Rebirth
by Talye Kendrin
Summary: Human? She wasn't quite sure if she was. / Her mother viewed her as little more than a chess piece to place where she wished; she didn't want to be a mother to her. But Azeria wanted nothing more than a family; and so begins a search for one of her own.
1. Don't Give Me Hope

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Hatenkou Yuugi, a.k.a. Dazzle, or its characters. I only own my original character, Azeria.

* * *

**Rebirth, Chapter One  
**_"Don't Give Me Hope"_

---

The cold wind was abnormal for such a summer's day. It whipped about restlessly, like an angry cat's tail, nipping through one's clothing and chilling to the bone. Azeria clutched the black shawl around her shoulders and suppressed a shiver as the thick, voluminous black skirts of her gothic-lolita style dress swished with her brisk walking pace, her strides long and smooth, fueled by an inner drive; willpower. The parts of her hair that were down—her side-swept black bangs and the lower layers of her hair—were tossed in the wind, but the small buns the upper layers were swept into did not budge, being secured with a multitude of bobby pins and a light spritz of hairspray. Her appearance was perfected down to the silver and gold full-finger rings on her left hand, stud earrings in her ears, and the black-and-white striped satin bow tied quaintly around her neck. Crisp white stockings hid beneath her skirts, and clean, polished black Mary Jane shoes peeked out from under the hem as she strode towards the mayor's house.

_Ding-dong… Ding-dong… Ding-dong, ding-dong._

Azeria gazed blankly at the fancily-carved white door with the polished gold doorknob. The mayor's house was certainly as elaborate and immaculate as always. After a few seconds, her red eyes narrowed, and she resisted the urge to tap her foot impatiently. She was the kind of person who took pride in her appearance, and tried to look dignified at all times. After all, that was the way the mayor had taught her to be all those years ago.

The door clicked open to reveal a dark-skinned man with light golden hair and a bit of chin stubble from not having properly shaven that morning. He was dressed in casual clothes—a thin white shirt and some black slacks—and he stared at the black-haired, red-eyed girl in her elaborate gothic-lolita style garb standing on the doorstep for a moment before smiling.

"And how can I help you? If it's the master you're looking for, I'm afraid he's ou—"

"Diorte."

The man blinked owlishly. "Ummm… I'm sorry, do I know—"

"It's me, picklehead."

Diorte's eyes widened considerably before he all but jumped the young girl. "Azeria Rosemary Shawspue, how dare you show up without even a proper phone call ahead of time!" he scolded even as he gave her a bone-crushing hug and smiled.

"…Diorte," she stated. "You don't have to act all lovey-dovey at a time like this. I know what happened. It's why I came," she said, no joy in her voice. She wasn't the type to act all sappy or anything upon reunions in the first place, but this time, she was here because she had something to do. And she was going to do it.

Diorte was silent for a moment before he released her and stepped back into the house, holding the door open for her as she entered the foyer after him. He closed the door with a quiet _click_ before turning back to look at her. They read each other's morose expressions for a moment before Diorte strode past her, down the hall of the vast mansion.

"Follow me. I'll show you to him."

She trailed after him, her strides just as determined as they had been on her way to the manor, matching the somewhat slower pace of his longer legs with ease. She had always had to match her pace to others' her whole life; she had become an expert at following. Even if she didn't want to.

As they drew close to a door near the back of the building, Diorte's steps slowed. He hesitated a moment before grasping the brass doorknob, turning it and pushing open the heavy door. Entering the cold room, he moved over to the closed coffin and fumbled with the latches on the lid before lifting it. He avoided looking at the face of the person lying in the coffin; he'd seen it already, and he didn't want to look at it again. That face, so still and cold, devoid of life. Yet he also didn't want to get his hopes up with the arrival of this girl. He didn't want to have them sliced to ribbons, thrown on the ground, and stomped on. He didn't want to have hope. Because then he would risk going through that all over again.

Because despite whatever hopes this girl might raise… he had lost his son.

Rayborn was dead.

"Diorte," Azeria stated softly, simply.

That was the only cue that he needed. Still avoiding looking at that still, cold face, he turned on his heel and left the room.

He didn't need hope. Because hope could destroy him completely.

* * *

A/N: This is based off the manga; I just thought I should say so, seeing as I haven't had the chance to watch the anime and see if there are any differences between the two.

Chapter two will be up in the next couple days, as it's already written and just needs to be edited. Chapter three will be written and hopefully up by Christmas; otherwise, it will be up by New Year's at the latest.

Please review~ An author needs to get feedback or they can never improve~


	2. I've Been Waiting For You

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dazzle (a.k.a. Hatenkou Yuugi) or its characters. The only thing I own is Azeria Rosemary Shawspue, my OC.

* * *

**Rebirth, Chapter Two  
**_"I've Been Waiting For You"_

---

The lace-edged, billowing long sleeve of Azeria's dress draped over Rayborn's blond hair as she placed her fully-ringed left hand on Rayborn's tan, yet frigid, forehead—darkness, frightening and loathsome, contrasting against gold; something so rare and valuable.

If she had had a choice, she would have had it that their roles had been reversed in an instant… though she doubted Rayborn would have remembered her in the first place; and then, of course, there was the fact that she was a very difficult creature to kill.

Human? She wasn't quite sure if she was.

She smiled wryly.

Her hand traced its way down his face and neck before resting over the spot where his heart would be, the right hand being brought up to rest atop the left. Studying his peaceful face for a moment, Azeria took a deep, cleansing breath, focusing on the task at hand even as she exhaled. This was something that she had done before, but she had never, ever tried it with a human before. This was something entirely different from those other times. After all, rabbits and cats are a far cry from people.

Her brow furrowed in concentration, she closed her eyes and focused on her power. Magic; something that one cannot firmly grasp. She willed it forth, feeling the tingle as it rushed down her arms and into her hands, pooling there as she prepared—fueling the quickly-growing source with all her will. Though she did not see it, she could feel the warm glow that no doubt bathed the immediate area; the visual side effect of the power she was charging for this one heavy task.

Then, in one quick burst, she shoved the power into his still heart, the magic force taking a small portion of her own life force with it. Quickly rubbing her hands together and shoving more magic force into them, she clapped them back to his chest as electric current shocked his body once, then twice; then a burst of warmth. A pause; she checked his pulse, but found nothing. She quickly repeated the whole procedure; the more life force shoved into him during a short span of time, the more likely it was that the process would work. It had been a long time since she had attempted such a task, and this was much larger than the times before. Would it even work? She didn't know, but if by the third time his heart hadn't started beating again, she would have to quit. Her life force was not something that should be trifled with, and she knew that neither Rayborn nor his father would appreciate it very much if she killed herself in the process of trying to revive Rayborn again.

She paused, checking his pulse a second time. Nothi—wait. Something faint, very faint. A fluttering? Fingers quivering, she quickly moved her hands back to their previous position and pumped a bit more life force into him for the third and final time, the electrical currents less harsh this time, more to encourage the heart to beat rather than to shock it back to life. Checking his pulse again, Azeria almost fainted from shock and relief when she found that his heartbeat was almost as strong as a normal person's. She reigned in her emotions, however, and placed her hand beneath his nose, checking whether he was breathing or not.

He wasn't.

"Damnit, Rayborn," she muttered under her breath, opening his mouth and quickly performing CPR. "Stupid fool," she said between blowing air into his mouth as she pushed on his chest to get him breathing again. Placing her hand under his nose once more, she realized with great relief that he was breathing shallowly on his own. Her knees buckled, and she fell to her knees with a loud _thud_ beside the coffin, hands gripping the side of the coffin so hard her knuckles were turning white. She heard rushing footsteps approaching the room, and realized that Diorte had probably been waiting, tensely, to see if she would over-exert herself or not. He was probably trying not to focus on the hope she must have given him when she arrived on the doorstep of his mansion. Because he knew about her powers, and he knew what all she was capable of. She had never tried to hide it from him, since he was her caretaker all those years ago.

She'd only made sure Rayborn didn't know, so that he wouldn't be frightened of her… but she supposed that wasn't at all possible now that she'd gone against all the rules of the universe and brought him back from the dead.

_Damnit. Life shouldn't be this complicated._

The door swung open, and as Azeria focused on evening out her breathing—which had become erratic from all the exertion that using such powerful magic had put her body through—she heard Diorte's footsteps approach her, and she felt his hand pause as it brushed her shoulder. She smiled wanly. He must have realized that his son's chest was rising and falling… as he breathed.

_Alive_.

"Ray…born…?" came Diorte's obviously shocked voice from behind her. She felt his hand come to rest heavily on her shoulder before gripping it painfully tight. At this, she looked up, and saw that he was surprised and actually… his eyes were moist. She quickly looked away again; she knew Diorte would not be happy if he knew she had seen him during this one weak moment. He wanted to appear strong, as an unshakable rock. She smiled slightly to herself and rather than commenting, used the side of the coffin as leverage to help drag herself back onto her feet.

And just as she stood again, Rayborn's eyes flickered open.

Diorte and Azeria both inhaled sharply at this, and as it felt almost like Diorte was going to tear her shoulder out of its socket, she gave him a painful pinch to his side to make him loosen his grip a bit. She was anxious, too, but that didn't mean she was about to tear his limb from his body just because she didn't know what else to do.

Rayborn's eyes moved in and out of focus for a moment before finally focusing on the tiled white-and-silver ceiling. What had happened? The last thing he remembered… was that mob coming after him… and then he remembered thinking that he was going to die, and that he hadn't even gotten to grasp the position of Rahzel's best friend yet. Then… what next? Something… blank whiteness, and a sense of peace. Was there more than that? He remembered vaguely… a voice. A voice? He couldn't remember what it sounded like, or what all it had said to him, but he remembered being totally calm, assured and at peace. There had been no worries; nothing. Just a sense of well-being that he couldn't recall ever having before that.

But then… something had happened. He had felt a faint tugging sensation, and he had been unhappy, but the tugging had become a more insistent pull, and he had been jerked from that peaceful place, and plunged into an all-encompassing darkness. There was discomfort in his chest, and he felt like there was something he was supposed to be doing, but he didn't know what, and he couldn't remember how to do it. Then all of a sudden, there had been air, and he realized he must not have been breathing. But… he hadn't felt the need to breathe in the calm place. So why would he need to here? He sifted through these thoughts for a moment, brow furrowed, before he realized that he was staring at the ceiling. White-and-silver ceiling… it didn't look familiar. Had he encountered this room before? Maybe… he should look elsewhere for clues…

He looked to the left; the ceiling met a blank wall.

He looked to the right; there were two people standing there.

He looked back—

Wait.

Two people?

His eyes widened, and he looked back to his right, managing to move his head a bit to stare at them. After staring for a moment, he realized—

"…Dad?"

* * *

**A/N: **If you have read this far, I thank you for doing so. If you do not like the powers that my OC has, then so be it. I have plans and a history for her. If you do not find her believable already, or if you think her to be too much of a 'Mary Sue', then you are free to leave and not check back for any future updates on this story; that's your choice. But if you're willing to give Azeria a chance, then you have my thanks and I ask that you might add this story to your Story Alerts, so that you can get notified when I update, and so that I can know if there are people following my story. :)

As stated at the end of the last chapter, the third chapter should be up sometime between Christmas and New Year's.

Thank you for reading~

Please review, if you would be so kind~


	3. His Determination, Her Compliance

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dazzle (a.k.a. Hatenkou Yuugi) or its characters. The only thing I own is Azeria Rosemary Shawspue, my OC.

* * *

**Rebirth, Chapter Three  
**_"His Determination, Her Compliance"_

---

It had taken both Diorte and Azeria to maneuver Rayborn out of the coffin when they found that he hadn't regained full control over his limbs yet. After they had propped him up on his bed with many a cushion and thrown a few blankets over him to help raise his body temperature back up to normal, Diorte followed Azeria back to the kitchen, where he promptly collapsed into a chair at the dining table as she searched the cupboards for the makings of chicken noodle soup and a pot of tea. They were both silent for a long time, the only sound being the clunking of pots and measuring cups for a while as Diorte thought of what he could possibly say in such a situation, and Azeria only focused on her task as substitute chef until it was actually dinnertime, seeing as it was only two in the afternoon.

"…Hey kiddo," Diorte finally said as Azeria stirred the now-boiling soup. She didn't turn, but Diorte could tell from the slight tilt of her head that she was listening to him. He smiled a bit and closed his eyes. "…Thanks. You don't owe me anything anymore. This is more than enough for me."

Azeria smiled faintly, but made no comment as she continued stirring the soup.

It was good to be out of debt.

* * *

Azeria set up the meal tray over Rayborn's lap as he sat propped up against the pillows in his bed still, looking at a map he had requested be brought to him earlier. Rayborn peered up at her as she set down the bowl of chicken noodle soup and the mug of freshly-brewed tea, both of them steaming hot. He seemed to study her face for a while, as if trying to place it in his memory, before he opened his mouth to speak.

"Have…we met somewhere?" he asked, brow furrowed.

Azeria gave a small, polite smile. She hadn't expected him to remember; after all, it had been several years ago. And besides… despite her odd eyes, she didn't usually leave much of an impression on other people. She was neither passionate nor frigid enough for other people to wonder about her personality.

She had abandoned such a thing as 'personality' around the time she came to know Mayor Diorte.

"If you are implying that I look familiar, it is because I was in your father's care approximately fifteen years ago," she stated demurely, not missing the widening of Rayborn's amber eyes. "I was adopted, though I chose to go back to the orphanage after a little over three years," she informed.

"Uh… so… does that mean I should call you _oneechan_ then?" he asked, scratching the back of his head nervously—the same habit as he had when he was a child, Azeria noted with amusement.

"No. No need to drudge up the past. I am little more than an acquaintance now, having been gone for so long," she said in her usual polite tone as she held out a hand to him. "Just call me Azeria."

Rayborn stared at her hand for a moment before his cheeks tinged pink and he quickly grabbed her hand and shook it, realizing he was making her wait.

"Er… alright… Azeria," he said, smiling, before he realized something, grabbing her hand with his other hand as well and leaning forward, staring at her with big eyes and a hopeful smile. "Ah! Azeria, will you be my friend, too?" he said excitedly.

_Oh, dear. I don't want to crush his hopes… but that's asking a lot of someone like me…_

"…" Azeria stayed silent for a long moment, but the moment the hope started to falter on Rayborn's face, she couldn't help but feel like she should kick herself and die a horrible death in the fiery depths of hell.

"…Alright."

Rayborn's face lit up, and he immediately pulled her into a hug, almost making her knock over his soup that was slowly cooling. His chokehold wasn't exactly comfortable, for her, but she found herself relenting and patting the top of his head in return. After all… all those years ago, he _had_ been her little brother… even if she had abandoned that 'comfortable' lifestyle.

"Rayborn," she stated simply, eliciting a 'hmm?' from said boy as he loosened his chokehold on her neck.

"Your soup's getting cold."

"Ah! Sorry…!"

* * *

Azeria sat properly, back straight and one foot hooked behind the ankle of her other leg as she sat on a chair next to Rayborn's bed, looking at the map he had been perusing before her arrival with his food and drink. It seemed as though there were a few small towns crossed out, as well as Acanea, the town across the water from there. She recalled having heard that the reason Rayborn died was because he had followed his friends to Acanea… and that was the place where that 'white-haired devil' had been killing people like it was nothing, wasn't it? She frowned a bit. He likely wouldn't be there any longer… damn. She was always one step behind, wasn't she?

"Ah… Azeria?" Rayborn asked, jerking said girl from her thoughts. She raised her eyes from the map to meet Rayborn's curious gaze.

"Yes…?" she said when he didn't continue for a moment.

"Ah," he said, scratching the back of his head and smiling nervously. "Well, I was just wondering… how did you save me?" He blushed and looked down at the tray over his lap, where his soup bowl was now empty and his tea was half-drained. "I mean, no disrespect or anything, I just… I was _dead_, you know?"

Azeria nodded. "No worries. I thought you might ask," she stated, taking a deep, cleansing breath before continuing.

"You would have been too young to remember much when I was adopted by your father, but I have had these powers for a long time," she said, as she held out one hand, wrapped in a faint blue glow where she had focused some magic to; cold magic. Rayborn reached out to touch it, but he quickly drew his hand back when he realized it was colder than ice. "This is just a small portion of the things I can do. Unlike most magic users, I can manipulate time, space… even death, to a certain degree. However, in order to bring something, or some_one_, back to life, I must sacrifice a portion of my own life force in order to do so."

Rayborn's jaw dropped, and he took this new information in for a moment before grabbing her by the shoulders and shaking her.

"What the hell! Why would you just throw away your life like that?! I was dead already, damnit! No one would've expected me to just rise up from the dead!"

Azeria calmly pried his fingers loose, gripping them so that he could not shake her anymore. "It doesn't matter. I'm not about to die that easily, anyways. I have an indefinite amount of time to live, and giving away a portion of my life force is not about to make me weak enough to keel over anytime soon," she stated simply. "With these powers comes the ability to heal much quicker than regular people, along with an extended life. You need not worry about me. Besides," she said, "this was in order to repay my debt to your father for taking me in all those years ago. And now that debt has been paid in full."

Rayborn studied her face, then sighed, pulling his hands back out of her grasp and dropping them in his lap as he leaned back into the pillow extravaganza propping him up. He glanced back at her as she went back to studying the map again.

"Y'know… you don't really look any older than me," he said, now curious. "How would you remember what happened fifteen years ago when I would've only been a little over one year old?"

Azeria gave a small smirk. "That would be because I was already six years old at that time."

Rayborn's jaw dropped. "No way!"

"It's true. I have a baby face," Azeria said before growing serious, placing the map down on her lap as she turned to face him straight-on, catching his attention.

"Rayborn... I have to ask you to keep this information about my powers a secret," she stated. "People like me... we're not supposed to exist. And those who don't understand these powers I have, they usually want to either kill us or control us. So the only way for us to live... is to not let others know." She grabbed Rayborn's hand and squeezed it painfully tight, causing him to wince. "I want to help you leave this town, because if you stay here, you will either have to stay inside forever, or you will go out into the town and they may kill you because they won't understand how it is you've come back to life. So I want to take you someplace where no one will know who you are, so that you can start over again as if you never died to begin with."

Rayborn was silent for a long moment, staring at his hand as she gripped it tightly, and just feeling the warmth of the blankets and the pillows and the air and her hand. Because this warmth was something he didn't want to forget, and didn't want to lose. To die again... even if it was for Rahzel and them... he didn't want to have to die alone. Because he knew he would miss all this. And that he would miss all _them_.

Silently, he nodded.

* * *

"Dad! I don't care what you think, I'm going after Rahzel and them!" Rayborn yelled on the other side of the door. Azeria sighed. It hadn't even been a full day since he'd been revived, and he was already back to his spirited, determined self, all ready to go off after Rahzel, Alzeid, and Baroqueheat—whom Rayborn had talked about almost non-stop to Azeria since after their little talk last night until he went to sleep. She swore her ear almost felt as though it was going to fall off from all his incessant chatter. She'd been glad when he finally fell asleep, allowing her to go through the motions of her nightly bedtime ritual—brush teeth, brush hair, change into sweatpants and t-shirt, go for a run, take a shower, and turn in for the night.

She didn't want people to think she participated in such an activity that got her all sweaty and smelly like running. Thus, the only time she could go for a run was at night, after everyone was asleep already… though she suspected Diorte already knew about her nightly escapades, and just chose not to comment. In which case, she was quite grateful to him for that.

The door to Diorte's study slammed open, jerking her out of her reverie as a scowling Rayborn stormed out, not noticing Azeria's presence.

"_Ahem._"

Rayborn jumped nearly a foot in the air, clapping a hand over his heart as he turned, wide-eyed, to face Azeria, who was standing almost directly behind him. He frowned.

"Don't do that! You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

A moment ticked by before he realized that overstatements referring to death were probably not appropriate for someone like him, having already been there once.

"Err…"

"It's fine," Azeria interrupted, realizing what he was probably thinking. "However, _you_, sir, are not quite realizing your situation at the moment," she said as she hooked an arm through his and proceeded dragging him down the hall and towards the back door of the mansion that led out into the garden in the back. "I understand that you want to go after your friends, but you've just gained back control of your muscles and whatnot, so you're not quite as strong as you were before your temporary death. Thus," she said, glancing over at him.

"I am going to train you."

Rayborn stared at her wide-eyed for a moment before bursting out laughing.

"Ha…hahahaha! You can't even fight!" he said, almost doubled over laughing. "Hahaha! How the heck—haha—are you going to train me?!" He wiped away the tears that had sprung to his eyes from laughing so hard.

Azeria smiled a frigid smile.

"Oh? So you doubt that I can fight you, Rayborn, dear?"

Rayborn stood frozen by her smile, thinking that maybe—just maaaybe—he shouldn't have laughed at her. That smile was quite unsettling, after all.

"Go to the backyard, dear. And bring some bandages. Your first lesson shall be 'never underestimate your opponent'," she stated with a dangerous undertone, the icy smile still frozen on her face as she turned, heading to her room to change into sweatpants and a t-shirt.

Nobody underestimated Azeria Rosemary Shawspue and got away with it unscathed.

* * *

"Ha!" Azeria cried as she kicked at Rayborn's stomach, and he was barely able to block it in time. The force of the blow still made him stumble back a couple steps. He wasn't able to keep up with her movements at all—she was much faster and stronger than he'd expected her to be. How did such a small thing get to be so powerful? He just couldn't understand. Especially since she'd never even hinted that she trained or that she had ever fought before. He quickly raised his arms in a block again as she attempted another kick. She was quick enough that he couldn't even get in any counter-attacks. He may not have been the strongest or the fastest person around, but he'd thought that with all the self-defense training he'd had for in case of kidnappings, that he would be able to have a fair fight with most people.

Unfortunately, Azeria was proving that thought wrong faster than he could say "that hurts".

It wasn't even three minutes later that Azeria was standing over Rayborn, who was laid out flat on his back, limbs splayed as he groaned pitifully.

"Consider that the end of your first lesson," she stated, reaching her hand out to him to pull him up with. As soon as he was back on his feet, she clapped his shoulder and said, "You definitely know how to block, but some of your blocks were a bit sloppy. How long has it been since your last self-defense lesson?"

"Um… two years?" he said, scratching his cheek. "Somewhere around there."

"That would explain it," she said, grabbing his arms and positioning them in an 'x' block in front of his face. However, rather than left-over-right, as he'd been doing it, she put right-over-left. "Your right arm is more powerful, since your right hand is dominant, so you use your right arm more. If your right arm is in front during the high cross-block, there will be more strength in your defense," she explained.

Rayborn blinked. "Ohhh, I get it!"

Azeria nodded, grabbing one of the towels she'd thrown over a hedge near the area they'd been training in and throwing it to Rayborn as she dabbed her forehead and neck with the remaining towel.

Rayborn draped the towel over his head and scrubbed his sweat-soaked bangs dry. "So how many of these 'lessons' do I have to have before dad will let me go, you think?" he asked, eager to be on the road looking for Rahzel and them again.

Azeria shook her head. "I don't know. I'll talk to him for you."

Rayborn smiled and surprised her by scooping her up in a hug, lifting her feet off the ground as he did so.

"Thank you so much, Azeriaaaa!" he said, hugging her so tightly she thought her bones might crack.

"Aghhhh! Show your affection more gently, why don't you!"

* * *

Azeria sat properly in the chair facing Diorte's desk as he lounged in the comfortable leather office chair behind it, carelessly taking a drag of a cigarette with the window open to let the pleasant summer breeze blow into the room.

"So basically, you're telling me that you approve of Rayborn's foolish desire to go after his friends again?" Diorte said, rolling the cigarette between his thumb and forefinger. "These are the same friends that got him killed. You know that, right?"

Azeria nodded. "Yes, I understand that completely. However, with a bit of training, I believe he will be better able to avoid such situations as the one that got him killed." She took a deep breath. "And… I'm willing to go with him, if that makes any difference in your decision."

Diorte's eyebrows shot up.

"Well, well, well… little Azeria getting attached to somebody? I never thought I'd see the day," he smirked a bit. "Although your offer does make this whole idea of Rayborn running off to find his friends a little less unappealing to me… I don't want him leaving until he can last at least five minutes in a fight with you," he said, holding a hand up when she opened her mouth to say something. "A fight where you _aren't_ holding back, I mean."

Azeria shut her mouth again.

_Damn. Guess he was watching our training, then._

Diorte smirked and leaned his chin on his fist, elbow resting on the armrest of his chair.

"…I suggest you go pack your bags. The kid's a fast learner, after all."

Azeria smirked and nodded, giving him a lazy, two-finger salute before standing and exiting the room.

Maybe this whole trip was going to be a little more exciting than she thought.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you for coming back for round three! :D I hope you enjoyed this chapter. From here on out, the chapters should be somewhere around this length or a bit longer. The next chapter (chapter four) shall be posted on my birthday (January 10th).

Also, a note for those who don't know what _oneechan_ means, it is the Japanese term for 'older sister'.

(Btw, I have no idea about self-defense. :D I just looked up a video on how to do a crossblock, and since the upper crossblock had the right arm in front of the left arm, I just formulated a speculation on why it's supposed to be like that and wrote it in.)

Merry Christmas, y'all! :D


	4. To Prometheus

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dazzle (a.k.a. Hatenkou Yuugi) or any of its characters. I do, however, own Azeria Rosemary Shawspue (my OC) and this plot.

* * *

**Rebirth, Chapter Four  
**_"To Prometheus"_

---

"Defend yourself!" Azeria shouted, hurling punch after punch at Rayborn without ceasing. He was just barely keeping up with her, but keeping up nonetheless. It had been eight days since they'd started practicing, and Azeria had stopped holding back as she had during their first fight. During the first fight, she'd been pulling punches because she wasn't sure how good he was; and it was a good thing, because his defense hadn't been up to par after having gone about two years without proper lessons. But now, Azeria put her all into her hits, and Rayborn could feel it even through the blocks as his foot slid back a bit from the force of the blow.

"Damnit!" he said, seeing the slightest opportunity as she was pulling her right arm back before the punch with her left arm that he could see her preparing for. In that moment, he brought his right leg up in a snap kick to her stomach, taking her by complete surprise as her eyes widened and she fell back onto the grass. She quickly rolled out of the way of another kick and flipped back onto her feet, nearly KO'ing Rayborn as she did, her foot just narrowly missing his head as he dodged to the right. After that, there were no more openings big enough for him to chance an attack, and he growled a curse under his breath.

His breathing was already growing ragged from defending against the constant stream of attacks she was launching at him, and he was a bit beat up, his arms and sides having been hit enough to hamper his movement a bit. She wasn't even allowing him recovery days from their previous rounds—every day, they were training. He supposed that the sooner they finished training, the sooner they could get on the road, though, so he had kept his mouth shut and not complained. Azeria respected that.

However, seeing as the terms of their leaving had to be that Rayborn had to last five minutes in a fight without her holding back, she had to make sure she was giving it her all in their fights. So that meant that she couldn't keep from attacking at that moment, when he let his guard down for the slightest moment… so she quickly moved to karate chop his neck—

—and paused just before she hit it.

"Checkmate," she said, her breathing only slightly escalated.

Clapping erupted from the stone patio, and Rayborn and Azeria both turned to see Diorte, applauding with a smirk on his face.

"Five minutes and one second," he said, looking at the stopwatch dangling from a cord wrapped around his wrist.

"Hahahaha! We did it! Azeria, we did it!" Rayborn said, tackling her in a hug as she barely stayed upright.

"Oh, gross! Get off of me, you're all drenched in sweat!"

* * *

A shower and a change of clothes later, Rayborn and Azeria were forced to sit down for one last meal before they went anywhere—much to Rayborn's chagrin. He fidgeted in his seat, unfolding and scanning the map before re-folding it, only to unfold it to look at it again a few seconds later. He finally stuffed it back into his pants pocket when he caught both Diorte and Azeria giving him a look.

The chef presented plates of steaming hot, delicious foods—mushroom ravioli, steamed vegetables, and chicken cordon bleu. Azeria took tiny, delicate bites, using her thorough etiquette training that she'd been given during her stay with the Diorte family all those years ago. The silence was comfortable, but to Azeria, it was irritating. She hated silence. She liked it when there was some noise, just as long as the noise wasn't deafening.

"So where do you think your friends would be by now?" Azeria asked Rayborn, who immediately perked up at the mention of his friends.

"Well, I've gone over the map of the surrounding towns, and from the places they said they've been before, I found that they've been going in a north-easterly direction. So moving on from Bernpuela to Acanea, they might have been headed towards…" he trailed off, pulling the map out of his pocket and unfolding it, "…this place. Prometheus," he said, holding it up and pointing it out for Azeria. She nodded in acknowledgment, turning back to her dinner.

"So how do you plan on getting there?" Diorte asked from his spot at the head of the table, eyeing his son.

"Umm… about that…" he trailed off, scratching the back of his head. "Do you think we could possibly have some horses… and a boat to take us back over to Acanea?" he asked, smiling sheepishly.

"Fine, fine," Diorte said, leaning back in his chair. "After all, it's not every day my son asks me for a favor… just remember to write a postcard wherever you go," he said with a smirk. "I'll come visit you when you're married."

Rayborn blushed furiously. "Dad! Stop joking!"

Azeria smiled faintly.

_I could get used to this…_

_

* * *

  
_

The boat tilted gently as it bore through the waves on the way to Acanea, the gulls crying as they circled overhead, grey clouds blocking a great deal of sunshine, promising rain to come. Azeria leaned back against the rail near the bow of the boat, pulling her hair into a loose ponytail over her left shoulder and staring up at the birds wheeling in the sky.

"Ah… Azeria!" Rayborn called, waving to her from his spot at the top of the stairs that descended below deck before walking over to meet her with a grin. "So what do you think? You said you'd only been on a boat once before, right?" he said, leaning forward as though he were a dog eagerly awaiting her approval.

Azeria fought the urge to raise a questioning eyebrow. It was… strange, needless to say, for someone to be so… _affectionate_ (would that be the correct term? She thought it was) towards someone such as herself. After all, she'd been in and out of loveless foster homes for years now, and even though she'd finally met her real parents a couple years ago, she knew that they (her mother, at the very least) didn't hold any true affection for her, either. Probably the most 'affectionate' foster home she had been in was the Diortes'. After all, they had fed her, clothed her, and even looked after her to the point of enrolling her in martial arts classes, along with the etiquette courses that were required for her to fit in with the mayor's higher-status family, and Rayborn's mother had been quite kind to her.

"It's more... _elaborate_ than the last boat I was on," she stated, choosing her words delicately so that he wouldn't realize she didn't see the necessity of having such a huge boat in the first place. "It rocks less… so there's less chance of me getting seasick," she admitted.

Rayborn grinned. "That's surprising," he said teasingly, "I never expected _you_, of all people, to get seasick! And here I thought you were this amazing woman with no weaknesses," he said, giving a dramatic sigh and placing the back of his hand to his forehead as though he were feeling faint. "What a pity—my ideal of you has been ruined. Woe is me!"

Azeria elbowed him in the stomach. "Drama king," she muttered under her breath.

Rayborn rubbed his sore stomach, figuring it would probably be bruised by tomorrow morning from the force she put into the blow. "You wound me deeply," he said, grimacing. His eyes lit up, however, as his train of thought switched topics completely. "Oh hey, I figured that seeing as we're on horseback, we can probably cover about from Acanea to…" he fumbled in his pocket for his map before withdrawing it and snapping it open, pointing at a small dot with tiny print beside it on the map a short ways off from Acanea, "…this place, Ereus, today. We should be able to make it there before nightfall, if we keep to a trot or faster."

Azeria nodded. "I know that I trust my own horsemanship, but how are you as a rider?" she inquired.

Rayborn huffed indignantly. "I'll have you know I've been riding since I was five years old," he stated, sounding slightly hurt that she didn't think he would be able to measure up to her standards.

Azeria patted his golden head comfortingly before resting her hand where it was, smiling faintly. "I'm just teasing," she said, settling back on her elbows against the railing. "So the kid with the butterfly tattoo you told me about… his name's Baroqueheat, eh? And the other one is…Alzeid, is it?"

"Hm?" Rayborn said, in the middle of fixing his hair. "Yeah, that's their names, why do you ask?"

Azeria smirked, closing her eyes and leaning her head back. "Just curious."

Rayborn studied her for a moment before grinning and leaning back on the rail as well. "They're pretty cool, though 'Heat is kind of a pervert. He likes to pick on Rahzel a lot," he said matter-of-factly.

"Oh boy," Azeria muttered.

"Hm?"

"Oh no, it's nothing," she said, smiling slightly as she peered up at the sky once more, watching the birds until a drop of water landed on her cheek. "Huh… looks like our time outside is up… let's head below deck, Ray," she said, grabbing his arm and proceeding to drag him towards the stairs as the rain started to fall.

"Wah! You're gonna make me fall over!"

* * *

The room that Azeria had been given was surprisingly spacious and lavishly decorated. The only real difference from a normal room was the fact that all the furniture and whatnot was bolted down to the floor, and there were side panels on the bed to ensure that even with the rocking of the boat, one wouldn't fall out of the bed while sleeping.

She stepped fully into the room and shut the door behind her, suppressing the sigh that wanted to escape her. Just like that, she was alone again. The only difference between this time and every other time was the fact that rather than being walls she had put up herself, it was real, solid walls that separated her from everyone else. Living like this had always been the loneliest; wanting a companion, but not feeling that anyone else honestly wanted to be around her. It made for a very lonely existence. And unfortunately, that very existence was one that she knew all too well.

Climbing around the side panel to sit on the bed, she folded her legs pretzel-style and closed her eyes, focusing on nothing but the feel of the boat rocking gently back and forth. She had become rather accustomed to it, now that they'd been on the boat for a couple hours. It didn't take her long to develop 'sea legs', as the sailors called them. She was surprisingly quick to adapt to new situations, so long as they were physical situations and not emotional situations. She was a very uneducated person when it came to the field of emotions, having been isolated for so long. She wondered if there would ever be a time that she _wasn't_ isolated… After all, she was completely different from most everyone else. And that wasn't about to change in the blink of an eye.

_Prometheus…_

Azeria was all too familiar with that name. Though she had never been to the town itself, she knew that it was the place where _that_ man and _that_ woman had been.

She also knew that if anyone suspected her for who she truly was, then she would be in a shit-load of trouble…and they would be, too.

_I'll have to tread lightly for a while, especially during our stay in that town,_ she thought, brow furrowed. _I don't suppose that we would be able to stay with anyone to eliminate some of the travel costs…_

A poke to the forehead interrupted her train of thought. She opened one eye.

"You've got wrinkles in your forehead. Are you worried about something, Azeria?" Rayborn asked, his face way too close for comfort.

She opened her other eye, promptly shoving his face away from her and flopping unceremoniously back onto the bed, arms splayed at her side. "Whenever I'm thinking deeply about something, my forehead gets all wrinkly," she stated flatly. "At least, that's what I'm told, anyways."

"Hmmm. You should do something about that… or you'll get wrinkles early in life. You'll be twenty-two with a face like an old lady!" Rayborn said in mock-horror, pretending to swoon. Azeria snorted.

"Leave the swooning to people who can actually pull it off, hun," she said, placing her arms behind her head and crossing one leg over the other before looking over at Rayborn again. "So what do you plan on doing if they're not in Prometheus when we get there?" she asked bluntly. It was never in her nature to beat around the bush unless she was in a risky situation that called for a delicate touch.

Rayborn frowned. "Well… I don't really know. I guess just keep heading in the same general direction they were all heading before, unless we get some info about where they're headed from somebody in Prometheus," he said, scratching his cheek.

Azeria nodded before closing her eyes. "Sounds like a plan," she stated, before covering her mouth as she yawned widely. "Do me a favor and wake me when we get there, m'kay?"

"Okay… I'll go to my room for now, then, I guess," Rayborn said, lingering for a moment longer before turning and exiting the room, shutting the door softly behind him, though his mind lingered on how peaceful she looked with her eyes closed like that.

_Well… I guess even 'emotionless' people can be beautiful, after all._

_

* * *

  
_

"Azeria," came a voice. "Azeeeeriaaaaaa! Come on, wake up. The ship's approaching the dock now."

"Mmmnnn," Azeria moaned wordlessly, placing a hand over her eyes and attempting to roll over. Unfortunately, she was then lifted from her bed and dropped unceremoniously on the floor, landing hard on her butt.

"Yeowtch!" she cried, glaring up at Rayborn from her place on the floor. "I shall have you know that, as I am not a morning person, the next time you pull a stunt like that, you'd better be out of my sight before I open my eyes, or you'll be eating your own entrails the moment I get my hands on you."

Rayborn shuddered, eyes wide and a horrified look on his face. He had never known anyone to be this… _demonic_ after waking up from a mere nap. He didn't want to even _think_ about how she was after being woken up from a full night's rest.

Azeria promptly stood up, dusting off the backside of her voluminous skirts. She never wore anything other than large skirts and lace-trimmed shirts—usually button-ups—except for when she was exercising. Though the shoes she wore hardly ever had heels. She didn't see the point in trying to make herself look taller than she really was, seeing as at the end of the day, when she removed her shoes, she would still be no taller anyways. So, she remained at her height of 5'5". An average height, for a not-so-average person. She briefly inspected her shoes to make sure they hadn't gotten any scuffs (as she had ended up wearing them to bed, courtesy of her immense tiredness), and, satisfied with their state of normality, she strode to the door, intent on heading up on deck. She paused as she opened the door, turning to look at Rayborn, who was staring off into space, seemingly lost in thought.

"_Ahem_," she cleared her throat loudly, making him jump a bit. "Let's go. We haven't any time to lose if we want to get to that village by nightfall, correct?"

"Ah! Right," he said, quickly padding after her.

The horses were quickly geared up and unloaded from the ship, and Azeria was grateful for the wide ramp they had to lead them off of the boat with. She breathed a quiet sigh of relief as soon as her feet stepped onto solid ground again, the cobblestone street seeming almost heavenly to one such as her, who disliked being on ships. With little more than a pause to purchase some smoked meat and dried fruits from some of the street vendors—with Rayborn keeping a hat on, pulled low over his eyes, to make sure he wasn't identified by any townsfolk that might've been around during his death—they quickly high-tailed it out of town. Azeria was not one to risk it in a situation unless it was absolutely necessary, so she wanted to get in and get out as fast as possible. They ate while riding at a walk, the twin dappled-gray geldings alert, ears perked, as though they were eager to be out and about. Azeria wiped her hands on her handkerchief after eating a portion of the food they'd purchased, watching Rayborn eating for a moment before giving her horse an affectionate scratch on the neck, wearing riding gloves so that she wouldn't get dirt under her fingernails or chafe her hands on the leather reins.

"As soon as you're done, we should canter for a while before slowing to a trot. We need to move quickly so we don't have to camp in the open or anything for the night. I don't know this area, so I don't know if there are any wild animals to look out for in specific," she stated, eyes scanning their surroundings as they went.

Rayborn nodded, moving to wipe his hand on his pants when a handkerchief hit him in the face. He glanced over at Azeria, who was staring straight ahead, both hands on the reins. He shook his head, wiping his hands on the handkerchief before sticking it in his coat pocket. "Right. Let's go, then," he said, nudging his horse into a canter, as Azeria's horse followed his lead.

Rayborn didn't look back, so he missed the real, content smile that appeared on Azeria's face then.

* * *

"One room, please," Azeria stated to the hotel clerk at the front desk, who handed her the key as she paid in cash. Rayborn's eyes were wide; he never thought she would be the kind of person to carry so much cash on her person at all times. It made him wonder how much more she had on her at the moment… then again, maybe he didn't want to know.

Rather, there came the item of concern: the fact that she had stated '_one_ room, please'.

You see, Rayborn wasn't very accustomed to being around girls, even though Rahzel was his best friend. And even though Azeria used to be his 'sister' many years ago, he didn't even remember it because he was so young.

And thus, he (understandably) felt very awkward about sharing a hotel room with her.

Especially when they found out there was only one bed.

"Umm… I'll sleep on the floor," Rayborn said, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"Nonsense. If you sleep on the floor, you won't sleep. And we need to cover a lot of distance tomorrow if we plan on reaching Prometheus by nightfall. So you sleep on the bed," she stated matter-of-factly, no room for discussion in her voice. She glanced at him sideways. "Or could it be that you're…shy?" she asked, smirking wickedly.

He blushed angrily. "Sh-shut up! I am not!"

She smirked. "Fine, fine~ just get ready for bed, or look at your map, or something. I get the shower first."

"Huh? That's not fair, I smell like horse!"

"Pshh. Haven't you ever heard of 'ladies first'? Unless, of course… you _are_—"

"Stop talking and go shower!" he said, all but shoving her into the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind her.

She smirked. He was certainly fun to tease; perhaps this trip wouldn't be quite so boring as she thought it would be. Given that she was careful in Prometheus, it might actually be… enjoyable? Perhaps. With their horses safely stabled (and a magic trap in place, to ensure they didn't get stolen over the night—they were quite fine beasts, after all), they could turn in for the night and sleep soundly. Although, Azeria was always a fairly light sleeper, even if she didn't look it. That was why she was usually so demonic in the mornings; even little sounds could wake her up, meaning she didn't get a very good night's sleep very often. And given that, she was a 'perpetually tired' kind of person.

The hot water felt good against her skin as it washed away the horse smell and the dirt that had kicked up from their horses' hooves and settled into the recesses of their clothing, eventually working its way under all the loose parts and settling on their skin, as well. She scrubbed her hair with a mild shampoo that smelled faintly of peaches, the scent calming her even as she washed it out again. This was her favorite scent, the one that was familiar and soothing. The one that she loved. She knew why, but it made her frown when she thought about it, as she did then. She knew why. She understood. But that didn't mean it made her happy.

Such sour thoughts made her good mood swiftly decline, and rather than standing under the hot water for a few more minutes, as she would normally do, she promptly turned off the water, stepping out of the shower and toweling dry with one of the fresh, fluffy white towels placed in the bathroom by the hotel staff. She left the other large towel for Rayborn to use, and dug in her duffel bag that she had brought into the bathroom for her pajamas. Her flowing black satin nightgown was trimmed with lace at the empire waist before it flared out towards the bottom. It was long, reaching down to her ankles. A modest nightgown, it had a rounded neck and short, lace-edged sleeves. It was decent enough to wear in the presence of someone of the opposite gender, she thought. It wasn't risqué, unlike some of the nightgowns she had in her possession (though which she rarely wore, anyways).

Stepping out of the bathroom while still squeezing water out of her hair, she realized that Rayborn was already sprawled on the bed, eyes closed. _Good thing it's a queen-size, or there'd be no room left for me,_ she thought, seeing how his arms were splayed out on either side of him. Moving the covers back, she was about to slide into bed, but realized that Rayborn hadn't even removed his boots before lying down. Repressing a sigh, she moved over to his side of the bed again, carefully unlacing and tugging off his boots, trying not to wake him.

"Hmmmm," he moaned, moving an arm over his eyes because of the lamplight turning the backs of his eyelids red.

"Ah… sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," Azeria said, placing his boots on the floor next to the nightstand. "The shower's free if you want to take one now, though."

Rayborn blinked his eyes open, peering at her as she turned the lamp beside Rayborn's head off, moving to get in bed with only the light peeking out from beneath the bathroom door lighting her way. A thought came to him, then.

"Azeria… what have you been doing the past few years?" he asked. "You said you were a foster kid, but after you turned eighteen, you wouldn't be able to be adopted anymore, right? So… why don't you have a job, or something? Are you really free to travel around like this with me?" The reason he thought of that was because of all that money he'd seen her hand to the front desk clerk earlier. Surely, she had to have worked at a good-paying job since she got out of the system in order to be able to spend all that money on a trip that had zero monetary return.

Azeria was silent for a moment, and he would've thought she was asleep if it weren't for the fact that he could hear her uneven breathing. "…Why do you ask?" she finally replied. "If I weren't free to travel with you, I wouldn't have offered." There was a pregnant pause, and he realized that she wasn't going to answer his other questions. He heard her move before he felt fingers combing his hair. "Go back to sleep, Rayborn. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow if we want to make it to Prometheus by nightfall."

Rayborn was well aware of the fact that she was dodging his question. But he couldn't help but feel drowsy and peaceful, not upset with her in the slightest. And he realized, as he drifted off to sleep, that it was because he hadn't had anyone run their fingers through his hair like this since before his mother had died.

He could forgive her for not answering his questions. Because that simple action had given him hope.

* * *

**A/N:** If you've stuck with this story this far, you have my gratitude. I hope you will stay to watch Azeria grow as a character, with flaws, weaknesses, and strengths alike. I also hope for some reviews... ;D -winkwink- Btw, I don't think there's a place called 'Ereus' in Dazzle, but I figured there would be some town between Acanea and Prometheus, so I made it up.

The next chapter will be posted January 31st. :) I look forward to seeing you (well, not really _seeing_ you...but you get what I mean, right?) next chapter!


	5. Mistaken Identity

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dazzle (a.k.a. Hatenkou Yuugi) or its characters. I do, however, own Azeria Rosemary Shawspue, my OC. :)

* * *

**Rebirth, Chapter Five  
**_"Mistaken Identity"_

---

True to what Azeria had told him the night before, it was a very long day of riding as they headed towards Prometheus. All morning, they rode without stopping, and he was relieved beyond measure when Azeria announced that they were taking a break for lunch—he felt like if he stayed in the saddle a moment longer, his legs would be stuck in that position for the rest of eternity. Clambering down from the saddle and tethering his horse to a tree next to Azeria's so that they could graze together, he grabbed his share of food from the saddlebags and went to sit with Azeria, who had laid out a blanket on the grass, which was damp from a recent rain. He supposed the rainstorm that had passed over them while they were on the boat must have gone ahead of them, moving the same direction they were headed.

Sprawling out on his back, he gazed up at the sky as wispy white clouds passed by, looking for shapes in them like he did when he was young. He was somewhat surprised when he looked to his right and saw that Azeria had laid down and was also looking at the sky now. Nevertheless, he turned his attention back to the sky, and pointed to one of the clouds.

"That one looks sort of like a sea serpent," he said, noting the way it seemed to snake up and down a bit, with one bulbous end for a 'head'.

"Hmmm," Azeria replied. "…The one to the right of it resembles a horse's head."

Rayborn bit his lip, but wound up laughing anyways.

"What?"

"S…sorry!" he managed between laughs. "I just… never expected someone… so serious, like you, to… watch clouds!" He said, gasping for air, he was laughing so hard. "Oof!"

"That's what you get for laughing at me," Azeria said dryly, her elbows resting heavily on Rayborn's stomach. "…Whatever. Let's eat now. We still have a long ride ahead of us… let's walk while we eat, so you can let your legs limber up before getting back in the saddle. Alright?"

Rayborn nodded, having no complaints. They quickly ate their 'rations', the second-last portion. Only one remained, and that would be for their supper, just in case all the stores had already closed for the day by the time they reached Prometheus. They would be able to buy food in the morning, if that were the case. However, Azeria was hoping that perhaps they would be able to stay at someone's house overnight… although that would mean she had to be even more careful, as though she were walking on eggshells. The idea of staying in Prometheus scared her enough that she didn't want to take any more risks than she had to, but she also didn't want to rouse suspicion, and she wanted to make sure that they were able to afford the rest of their journey, on top of making sure Rayborn was as comfortable as possible. However… it seemed that she might be setting her ideals too high, because she honestly couldn't picture herself being able to pull off so many things at once. She sighed as she finished swallowing the last bite of her jerky.

"Hm? What's wrong, Azeria?" Rayborn said, tilting his head in a curious manner.

"Urghhh. No, it's nothing. Nothing you need to worry about," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Just thinking about lodging… my money isn't infinite, you know. I was wondering if it would be possible for us to stay with someone in Prometheus… but I don't know anyone there well enough to impinge on their hospitality."

"Hmmm," Rayborn said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "Well, if you don't have a lot of money, we could just use mine. My dad gave me my own bank account with a ton of money in it. I just hardly ever use it, because I never liked using money that wasn't technically 'mine'."

A hint of a smile appeared on Azeria's lips, but it was gone in a flash. "Understandable. Well, I can pay for now. If my funds get too low, I can do some odd jobs; and if that still isn't enough, then we will fall back on your bank account. Let's use that as a back-up plan, for now. Alright?"

Rayborn nodded. Even just in the past week-and-a-half, he had already found that Azeria was a bright girl, who liked to think things through and have secondary plans, just in case her primary plan fell through. She liked to examine every possibility for a situation, rather than just blindly stumbling forward. She planned ahead, and took as few risks as possible. He smiled. He was getting to know his new friend fairly well, if he did say so himself.

"Alright. Now that you've limbered up some, back in the saddle we go," his new friend announced, taking long strides back to their horses, her polished black riding boots gleaming in the sun, tan riding breeches tucked into them, and a white button-up shirt with ruffled cuffs, trimmed with lace and with a white lace cravat accenting her small chest. She pulled her riding gloves out of the left pocket on her breeches, tugging them on before mounting her horse again. As Rayborn looked up at her, sitting tall on the dappled-gray gelding, he thought she seemed almost… regal. Untouchable. But… perhaps that was just because of how straight her back was, and how the sun was behind her, setting her figure aglow. He quickly shook his head, as though shaking the thoughts from his mind, and mounted his own horse as well. There was still a long afternoon of riding ahead of them before they would reach Prometheus.

* * *

Night was falling as they neared the gates of Prometheus, only an orange sliver of the setting sun still visible on the horizon. Both boy and girl sighed in relief at the same time, catching each other's eye as they did so. Rayborn laughed, and Azeria smirked.

_I guess that's what happens when you hang out with someone 24/7,_ Azeria mused to herself.

Entering the gates only required a traveler's passport, which both of them produced from their respective pockets without batting an eye. They rode in after the gate guard checked their passports and handed them back, and they pocketed them once again, surveying the town as they rode down the cobbled main street, now having their riding cloaks on to defend against the chilly nip that came with evening, though only Rayborn had the hood of his cloak up. Azeria combed through her slightly travel-mussed hair with her fingers, and she mused that her hair was getting almost as long as _hers_ now.

"…_Natsume_…?" came a shocked female voice from behind them. A chord was struck in Azeria's mind, but she refused to outwardly show it, and she did not look behind her. She refused to look and see who it was. After all, someone saying _that_ name was definitely someone who could not be trusted, in her books. There were only two who could be trusted with her secret, and they were both male. She looked over at Rayborn, and saw that he was still riding beside her at a walking pace. Good; she didn't want him speaking to this person she couldn't trust, either.

The sound of hurried steps rang out on the cobblestones, and before she knew it, there was a short girl standing directly in the path of their horses. She quickly reined the horse in before it could step on the girl's feet. The horse gave a little noise of disapproval, but complied. Rayborn also halted his horse beside her, and she gave him a sidelong glance that said for him to be quiet and let her do all the talking. He nodded ever so slightly, letting her know he understood. She mentally cringed before turning back to the small girl in front of her. She looked very young, perhaps about the same age as, or younger than, Rayborn. However, she looked familiar… the gears in her mind turned, and then it clicked. When she had met _that_ woman, there had been a picture hung on the wall with this girl in it. What had her name been? Something that sounded remarkably like "bran muffin", or such…

The girl's face fell.

"Oh… you're not her," she said. "You're too young… and your eyes are a different color." She dropped her gaze to the cobblestones beneath her feet. "My apologies. I mistook you for someone else. Your hair and posture is just like hers."

Azeria raised an eyebrow. "Ah. Well. That's alright, but if you'll excuse us, my companion and I need to be on our way; we need to find a place to stay for the night…" she trailed off, looking around to see if she could spot any inns nearby.

"Oh," the girl said. "Well, if it's a place to stay, I could help you find on—" She inhaled sharply as her gaze found Rayborn, who was trying to tug his hood lower so she wouldn't recognize him. Unfortunately, he hadn't acted quickly (or subtly) enough. "…_Rayborn?_ Is that really you?" she asked, shocked.

"_Shhh!_ Not so loud!" he whispered harshly.

"Um… right," she said, flustered. "Let's go back to my place. We definitely need to talk," she said, hands trembling as she fisted them into her skirt. Just then, Saivah appeared by her side, having deemed it the right moment to step in, placing his hand on his mistress's shoulder reassuringly. "Saivah, bring the groceries. We're heading home now," she announced, beckoning the familiar face and stranger follow her as she took the shortest route back to her place.

Yes, they definitely had much to discuss… not only Rayborn, but this frighteningly familiar-looking new girl, as well.

* * *

"I couldn't explain it, even if I understood it," Rayborn stated, sprawled on the couch in Branowen's living room. He had already explained to Azeria on their way over how they knew each other, and he could tell that Azeria was very on edge, even if she seemed totally serene and calm on the outside. He knew her well enough by then to know that the more stressful a situation she was in, the more relaxed she appeared to be. He was sure it wasn't so on the inside, though. He resisted looking at said girl as he spoke, knowing he could not give away the fact that she was involved even in the least; instead, he stared at the high, white ceiling as he spoke. "All I know is that after I died, I went to some… peaceful, all-white place, but then I was being pulled back—and I woke up in a coffin with my dad standing over me looking like his eyes were gonna pop out of their sockets if they went any wider." He grinned at the recollection. "Funniest expression I've ever seen him have… ahem," he cleared his throat, trying to get serious again in his explanation. "Uh… yeah. But anyways. No idea how the heck it happened, but… hey, I'm alive. Happy day, and whatnot. So… now we're going to find Rahzel, Alzeid, and Baroqueheat again," he said, smiling at the thought.

Branowen nodded from her seat in an armchair on the left side of the couch, glancing at the black-haired, red-eyed girl sitting on the end of the couch with Rayborn's legs across her lap, one arm propped up on the back of the couch, eyes never leaving Rayborn's face as he spoke. Branowen took a sip of her tea, unable to tear her eyes from that face that looked so much like Natsume's. "Mm. And how are you related to… sorry, what was your name again?" Branowen asked, mentally kicking herself for not having asked the girl to introduce herself earlier. Though, she supposed, the shock had been too much to ask her to think straight in such a situation as that. She repressed a shiver as those red eyes lifted to lock gazes with her own.

"Ah. My apologies; my name is Azeria Rosemary Shawspue. You may call me Azeria," she said, her voice a smooth alto; lower than one would have expected, given how old she appeared.

"Oh," Rayborn said, realizing that he had to answer Branowen's question, since it had been directed at him in the first place. "Azeria used to be my adopted sister a few years ago, but she left after a little while. So now that she's back, we're kind of getting to know each other as we travel, since she offered to go with me." He grinned sheepishly and scratched his head. "I'm lucky she offered, because my dad wasn't about to let me go on my own anytime soon."

Branowen shouldn't have been surprised, but she was, a bit. In order for this "Azeria" girl's presence with him to mean something to his father, it meant that she would have to be able to protect him to some degree. Meaning that she had to be able to fight…

"Miss Azeria… can you use magic, by any chance?" she asked passively, taking another sip of her tea before setting it on the tray beside her chair and folding her hands in her lap.

Azeria was mentally panicking at the question. She didn't know whether she should confirm or deny it. If she confirmed it, Branowen's suspicions would be raised; but if she denied it, and then by some freak chance she got caught using it, Branowen would know for sure that she was hiding something, because she had lied to her. However… she didn't plan on staying longer than one night in this town. She would feel suffocated if she tried to stay any longer than that. So, her split-second decision was made.

"No, unfortunately," she said, closing her eyes and leaning her head back into the soft couch. "I imagine it would make things a lot easier if I could…it seems like it's something you have to be born with, though," she lied through her teeth. Thankfully, this was something that she was very well-practiced at doing. Deceiving people was something that she did every single day of her life, after all.

"…I see," Branowen said, taking up her teacup again, but simply staring into its contents rather than drinking any more. It was a silly assumption, after all. That perhaps she had Second's powers, just because she had those same red eyes of his. "You wouldn't… by any chance, know a person named Natsume, though, would you…?" she asked softly, squashing her own hopes before the answer could come and rip them to pieces.

"No," the low, quiet voice said. "I'm sorry. I don't. That was the person you thought I was earlier, correct?"

"…Yes." She exhaled through her nose, her air escaping her like it would from a soccer ball with a hole in it. "I apologize again for that." She said, replacing her cup on the tray before standing abruptly from her chair. "Come; I believe supper is ready now. I do hope you haven't any qualms about salmon stir-fry."

* * *

The guestroom Azeria was placed in was lavishly decorated; there were sheer yellow curtains on the windows, a large white vanity with an ornately-carved, matching white stool in front of it, and a four-poster bed draped with pale yellow and white silk sheets. The carpet was thick and luxurious; pure white, and very easily stained, though it was spotlessly clean, she noted. Not a trace of dust lingered in the room, though she doubted it was used very often. A cherry-wood nightstand held a single lamp, and there was a very detailed painting of a waterfall hung on the right wall of the room, opposite of where the vanity was placed. When Azeria woke in the morning, it took her a moment to take all of this in, and then another moment to realize exactly where she was. She tensed considerably, but then relaxed again. They didn't know who she was; she was fine. They would leave this morning shortly after breakfast, and she would never have to come back to this town again. She didn't _want_ to ever come back to this accursed town again.

She was already frazzled enough, just having stayed the night here.

Sighing wearily, she hauled herself out of bed, searching the duffel on the floor next to her bed for more riding clothes. She retrieved white breeches and a red button-up shirt, the sleeves flared and ruffled starting at the elbow, with red and white lace peeking out at the sleeve edges. She fastened the same white lace cravat she had been wearing yesterday around her neck, tugging on it to make sure it sat right on her B-cup chest. She glared at her relatively small chest, wishing it would grow a bit more. Unfortunately, wishing did her no good, as it remained the same size it always had been, and—she sighed—it would probably always be. She went over her boots with polish once again before tugging them on, and sat at the vanity to brush her hair. She took the front sections of her hair, from the ear and forward, and pulled them back, twisting them into a bun at the back of her head. A few strands of hair that were too short to reach fell beside her face, framing it, and her side-swept bangs fell over the left side of her face. They were getting a bit long now, she noted as she tugged on them with a frown. They were almost impeding her vision in her left eye… she would have to trim them later.

For now, however, she just wanted to get out of Prometheus and get on the road. And so, without further adieu, she forewent any make-up, placing her hairbrush back in her duffel and throwing said bag over her shoulder, making her way downstairs, where they were to have breakfast and then bid their boarders farewell.

Breakfast was a fairly simple affair; they had toast, scrambled eggs, and bacon, with orange juice to drink. Rayborn guzzled his orange juice and asked for more, but Azeria had trouble finishing her first glass; she did so out of a need to be polite, but she honestly could not stand how much pulp there was in it. She supposed that's what she got for drinking fresh-squeezed juice. She made a mental note to never have fresh-squeezed ever again; she wasn't much of one for having _texture_ in her drinks. It was quite off-putting, really, for her.

Branowen and Saivah stood in the aisle of the stable, watching as Rayborn and Azeria saddled their respective horses (as Rayborn was quite adamant about the fact that he wanted to stick with one horse for the entire journey). Branowen ran a hand through her hair, still as confused as she had been last night. It just didn't make any _sense_ for this girl to have such an appearance, and yet have no connection whatsoever to either Natsume or Second. She had even considered the fact that maybe she was just a runaway science experiment, but she had seen with her own eyes how very relaxed the girl was in Prometheus. And, well, if she was a runaway science experiment, then it just wouldn't make sense for her to even _show up_ in Prometheus of her own will, let alone be _relaxed_ there. Thus, she had discarded that theory, as well. But… having Second's eyes… and Natsume's facial features and hair… she was so very sure that it couldn't just be some freak coincidence.

But, really… it could just be that she was so desperate to believe that Natsume and Second were still alive, that she couldn't accept the truth.

That maybe… they really _were_ both dead, after all.

"Ah, Miss Branowen," the girl's voice said, breaking her out of her depressing—and frightening—thoughts. She looked up, staring blankly at those frightening red eyes. "I was wondering if you could tell us where Rahzel, Alzeid, and Baroqueheat went? After all, you did say last night that they'd stayed in Prometheus, correct?"

Branowen only recalled saying that in passing. This girl must be very attentive to have caught that and remembered it, she mused.

"Correct. They were heading for Rahzel's old village. It's a few miles east-by-southeast of here," she informed them. "Just take the eastern road out of the village. When you get to the fork in the road a couple miles out, just take the right road, and it will lead to the village… I don't know where they headed from there, though."

"That's alright. Thank you, Miss Branowen," Azeria nodded her thanks, leading her horse out of the stall as Rayborn gave the girth of his saddle a final tug to make sure it was good and tight before leading his horse out of its stall as well. "Thank you very much for your hospitality, Miss Branowen… Saivah." Azeria bowed slightly before she and Rayborn both mounted and rode out of the stable with a final wave to their boarders. They barely paused in the marketplace to purchase some more dried fruits and meats for their rations before they were off, headed on the easterly road away from Prometheus, the place that Azeria loathed.

She had never been more relieved to leave a place behind.

* * *

Alzeid Jr. was having mixed feelings. He knew that he wanted to protect Rahzel, but he didn't want to be there when Kiara put whatever it was he was plotting into action. He didn't want to be there to witness it if she got hurt. So he told Baroqueheat to keep an eye on her and protect her. That it was absolutely necessary.

And then he left.

He didn't even know where he was heading. His thoughts were all just one big mess, everywhere and nowhere. He couldn't make sense of any of them. He just knew that he was hurting because he'd left Rahzel when she was in danger, even though he was relying on Baroqueheat and Alzeid to keep her safe. He knew they were powerful.

But were they powerful enough?

Damn, Kiara could be scary when he wanted to.

"Ughhh," the albino boy groaned, holding his head. He was starting to get a terrible headache from all this thinking and worrying. He just needed to move, to keep going. To go somewhere and lose himself for a while. Maybe he could destroy a forest or something; that might sap enough energy from him to make him sleep for a while, so he wouldn't have to think. The only thing was that he would inevitably wake up in the end, and it would be back to the headache-inducing thoughts and worrying again. He heaved a sigh, taking a deep breath of the fresh grass smell…

"_…What?_"

His eyes widened. This smell… it was a mix of big sister and _that_ man. Yet it was one scent, not the two of them separately. But… the only way that that would be possible was if…

He quickly teleported, and when he arrived at the source of the scent, there were two horses, with a rider each. The horse he had teleported in front of whinnied in fright, rearing up a bit as its eyes rolled back in its head. Its cloaked rider reined it in, leaning forward in the saddle so they wouldn't fall off before it fell back onto all fours. The horse skittered to the side, prancing a bit before its rider finally managed to get it to stand still again.

"Big sister," Alzeid Jr. breathed, seeing the face of the cloaked rider, as the hood of her cloak had fallen down when the horse reared. But… the only thing out of place in that face—which was younger than big sister's own—was the fact that she had red eyes that almost seemed to glow in the dim light as the treetops overhead blocked most of the sunlight from reaching the trail they were on. Alzeid Jr.'s eyes narrowed.

"No… you're the _daughter_… of big sister and _that_ man."

Azeria looked up to see the albino boy standing in their path… and tensed.

"…I see. So we meet at last," she said, not needing to glance over at Rayborn to know that he had no clue what the boy before them was talking about. "I suppose… if you were to use the term loosely in such a strange situation as this, I would be your… 'younger sister'," she stated.

"Huh," Alzeid Jr. said, stroking his chin thoughtfully before an idea came to him. Perhaps this was a good chance for him to take out all of his frustration and worries and get rid of his headache. "You have _his_ powers, then?"

Azeria gave a terse nod. She knew where this was probably going, and she quickly dismounted her horse, leading the gelding over to where Rayborn was, as confused as he had been from the start of the girl's conversation with the albino kid. She handed her reins over to the tanned blond and hissed instructions to him quietly enough that the albino boy wouldn't be able to hear them.

"Rayborn. Take my horse, and get to the village. Don't you dare pause, and don't you dare look back. Don't go any slower than a canter. I swear if you do, I will tan your hide when I catch back up to you."

"What the hell!" Rayborn hissed back. "How the hell are you going to catch up to me without your horse?!"

"No time for that! Get going, idiot!" she hissed, eyes blazing with anger and desperation as she moved and slapped the horse on the rump, making it plunge forward into a canter with the other gelding following its lead. She turned and locked gazes with the white-haired boy, who didn't even glance at Rayborn as he rode past him on the trail.

"…So I take it you want to test me…?" she asked, face revealing none of her emotions, though they were many—fear, apprehension, determination, agitation, eagerness, and many more.

"Yeah. I need to let out some stress," he said, stretching his hands over his head with a yawn.

"Huh. Should I feel honored or offended, I wonder?" she murmured to herself. At least he hadn't just tried to outright kill her… not that she would die that easily, anyways, seeing as she _did_ have _that_ man's power.

If she didn't, she would have been dead a _long_ time ago.

"Alright, _little sister_," Alzeid Jr. said dryly, "make sure you don't disappoint me like brother did, alright?"

And then, he disappeared.

* * *

**A/N: **Aghhh! I just realized I wrote a cliffhanger ending for this! (It's been a while since I wrote it, so as I edited it prior to posting, I realized. x.x' Sorry if you don't like cliffhangers.) If you know who Azeria's parents are, congratulations! You win a pixelated ghost-muffin. If you can find it in order to eat it, I promise it will be tasty.

Anywho. If you've stuck with me this far, I am eternally grateful. :D Hullo to any return readers, and greetings to newcomers as well! I suppose I should say here, for those who may not know (since it's not exactly 'common knowledge'), that the "girth" of a saddle is the thick strap that goes around the horse's stomach, that can be exceptionally difficult to do up tight enough for riding, especially if you're going on a long ride, as it can gradually loosen as you go...which you don't want to happen, since if it loosens enough, your saddle will slide around. (Sorry for my excessiveness in this definition. I'm a horse-lover. I have about half a dozen books that are just information on horses, horse care, and riding. -sheepish- )

Next update is due February 14th. Ciao, muffins~


	6. Violence Begotten

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dazzle (a.k.a. Hatenkou Yuugi) or any of its characters; I do, however, own Azeria Rosemary Shawspue (my OC), and this fanfiction.

* * *

**Rebirth, Chapter Six**

"_Violence Begotten"_

_---  
_

Azeria had little more than a split-second to raise her arms to block the albino boy's blow that would have otherwise been a devastating blow to the head. As it was, the magic-enhanced blow cut through her red sleeves and mangled the flesh beneath where his fist had made impact. Azeria didn't bat an eye at the pain it caused. She had made herself suffer much worse in order to build up some immunity to pain and the sight of blood. She aimed a kick at Alzeid Jr.'s side, but he jumped away to avoid it. However, that didn't stop the wind magic she had powered her kick with. A look of surprise overtook his face when it sliced his side, making a rip in his shirt near the bottom and leaving a fairly shallow—but still bleeding—wound. He stared at Azeria with wonder and a bit of excitement on his face.

"Hey, you really _are_ better than brother! Brother never would've been able to react so quickly with a magic-infused counterattack. A sneaky one, even, at that!" He grinned. "This is going to be fun… you're more interesting than I thought!"

In a heartbeat, he was in front of her again, and it was all she could do to keep up with his attacks, blocking and counter-attacking, though her attacks rarely hit, and only caused superficial wounds when they did. She grit her teeth as his attacks became more aggressive. She was trying to keep track of his location at all times, never letting the little speed demon who was slightly shorter than she was out of her sight, but then a drop of sweat dripped into her eye, and she was momentarily blinded.

It was long enough for a burning pain to rip through her upper left arm. She bit her lip hard so she wouldn't cry out; a coppery taste filled her mouth. Having blinked the sweat out of her eye, she looked down to assess the damage, noting dizzily that her arm was torn halfway through the bone, a few inches above the elbow.

"Tsk, tsk… getting distracted from your enemy when you're still fighting," came the boy's voice as pain then exploded in her upper left leg, and she collapsed on her back on the hard ground, unable to stand anymore. Lifting her head to look at her leg, she saw it was in a condition similar to her arm. "I would've thought you knew better than that… little sister," the boy said serenely, blinking slowly and covering his mouth with his hand as he yawned, reflexive tears gathering in his eyes as he stumbled forward.

"Thanks for the…workout," he yawned again, collapsing forward onto the ground next to Azeria, falling asleep in the pools of her blood that spread out from her body even as it was knitting itself back together.

Azeria eyed the albino curiously. Her 'older brother' certainly was an odd character. Stopping just shy of slicing her limbs off, then thanking her for the workout? It certainly wasn't something that screamed "I'm normal", at the least. Her gaze switched from the boy's peacefully sleeping face to her wounds, which were already almost fully healed. As the flesh finished knitting itself together, she flexed first her arm, then her leg, carefully testing her leg's strength before standing. Looking down at the boy sleeping in her own blood, she raised an eyebrow at the strangeness of it before bending to scoop him up in her arms, one arm behind his shoulders and the other behind his knees.

"Can't very well leave you defenseless in the woods, now, can I, brother dear?" she muttered to herself before closing her eyes. In the blink of an eye, they were gone, teleported to the gate of the village.

Azeria blinked her eyes back open once she felt solid ground under her feet once again. She always hated the lurching feeling that teleporting gave her; and if she tried to keep her eyes open during the process, she would no doubt feel the need to vomit once she arrived at her destination… which was why she hardly ever used her ability to teleport. However, she made an exception in this case, since she had no horse readily available. Looking down at her brother's sleeping face once again, she couldn't help but shake her head in confusion. She had heard all of the stories of the 'white-haired devil boy' who had slaughtered so many people without mercy or real cause. But she had also noticed that he wasn't exactly a 'cold-blooded killer' through and through, because if he was, he wouldn't have hesitated to kill her when she was distracted during their fight.

So why, then? Why kill so many, who led much fuller lives than she did?

She shook her head again, and proceeded into the village, on the lookout for Rayborn or the horses. A few empty houses in, she noticed one with lights on, and she did not hesitate before entering the house, having to shift her brother around in her arms a bit in order to turn the doorknob and open the door. Kicking the door shut behind her, she was relieved to hear Rayborn run down the stairs before appearing in view.

"Azeria!" he said in relief, before looking down at the sleeping boy in her arms. "What the—didn't you tell me to leave because he was there!? Why are you bringing him along, then?!" he said, confused and flustered.

"…He's somewhat…different than I had assumed he would be," she stated, moving from the foyer into the living room, where she set the boy down on the unused couch. She placed a cool hand on his forehead, only to find that his temperature was soaring. She sighed. Just as she had thought; he had gotten a fever from over-exerting himself. Given that he had the same powers as she did, he would probably be rid of it soon enough, but she thought she might as well make him comfortable while she was at it. After all, she had already given her 'enemy' shelter, already.

Rayborn grabbed a fistful of his hair in one hand, gritting his teeth in aggravation. "Seriously, Azeria. What the heck is going on? This guy is… what, your _brother_, was it?" He frowned. "I know that I don't know a lot about your past, but… who _are_ you, really?"

Azeria sighed, knowing this would've come up sooner or later… she just preferred it to be 'later'. She didn't feel like having to explain everything more than once, so she would just explain things later. "I'll tell you… after we reunite you with your friends." She stood and patted him on the head. "Alright?"

Rayborn pouted, but relented. "…Fine. You'd better keep your word, though."

Azeria smiled faintly. "I never give my word unless I can keep it." She moved past him then, headed for the kitchen, where she grabbed a washcloth and dampened it with cold water (she was surprised the water was still running). Wringing it out, she went back to the living room and placed it on the albino's pale forehead, moving his white bangs out of the way. She somewhat envied him his snowy tresses; she had wished for a while that she had white hair like his, but she supposed that if she had white hair like she would have liked, it would have been so much easier for anyone to know whose daughter she was.

That sort of thinking made her black hair seem so much better than white.

"Uhh… I'm gonna go feed the horses," Rayborn said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. He didn't exactly want to be around the white-haired kid who seemed a lot more dangerous than he let on. "And then I'm gonna go explore the village a bit, since we've still got a few hours before it gets dark."

Azeria nodded, but did not turn away from her brother. Instead, she sat down in the armchair that faced the couch, drawing her knees up to her chest and wrapping her arms around her legs as she watched her brother sleep. She smiled. Just thinking of him as her 'brother' was strange, yet… it made her very happy. Since her mother and father had made it clear that they could not be a real family with her for safety's sake, she had wanted to look for her brothers… in the hopes that perhaps they could form some odd 'family' of sorts. She could also let them know that… _that_ man… was not dead after all.

Despite what anyone might think.

"Mmmnn…"

Azeria snapped back to reality, watching as her brother stirred in his sleep. She unfurled her legs from her chest and moved to kneel by the couch, removing the cloth and feeling his forehead, finding that it had significantly cooled from before. Moving his bangs back to where they had been before, she went to the kitchen to deposit the still-damp cloth in the sink. By the time she returned to the living room, Alzeid Jr. was sitting up on the couch, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He perked up when she entered the room, staring at her for a minute before a smile broke out on his face.

"Little sister!"

He seemed much more welcoming to her now that they'd fought. She wasn't quite sure what to make of it, other than thinking of it as one of his strange characteristics. Maybe now that he'd assessed her combat expertise, he thought her to be valuable…? She said nothing in reply, just nodded and sat down on the floor by the couch, legs folded Indian-style. She watched as the albino turned his head this way and that, taking in their surroundings.

"You seem a lot more trustworthy than I thought," he noted. "I take it you didn't try to kill me in my sleep even after I attacked you, then… you're weird." He smiled.

Azeria's eyebrows shot up. "_I'm_ weird?"

"Yup!"

"…Heh." She grinned, though she hid it behind her hand. However, she grew serious after a moment, and she locked gazes with Alzeid Jr. "Brother…" she tested out the word, finding that it felt odd, yet pleasant, rolling off her tongue. The albino in front of her perked up a bit when she said it. "You said before our fight, not to disappoint you like 'brother' did. I take it that means… you have fought with your younger brother?"

Alzeid Jr. nodded.

"I don't suppose that… you would know where he is right now, would you?"

He bristled, but nodded.

"He's with big sister. In her hometown, Ebroze."

"Big sister…" her brow furrowed. "The older? Or the younger?"

"The younger," he stated, then narrowed his eyes. "Wait. Does that mean… you know where big sister the older one is?" He gave her a dangerous look, but then a look of realization dawned on his face, and he seemed almost panicked. "Oh no! How long have I been here? How long have I been asleep?!" He all but yelled, grasping the front of her shirt as if he were going to shake the answer out of her.

"It's been a little over half an hour since I brought you here. I teleported, so we lost no time traveling," she stated calmly, not revealing the fact that his drastic mood swings were scaring her a bit.

Alzeid Jr. calmed significantly. He smiled at Azeria. "Thanks, little sister. You're not as bad as I thought you'd be," he said, giving her a light peck on the forehead before he hopped off the couch and disappeared, having teleported off to wherever he needed to be.

Azeria sat stock-still for a moment before reaching up and touching her forehead in the place where Alzeid Jr. had kissed it. She closed her eyes, collapsing sideways so her upper torso was draped over the couch.

"Ugh… siblings are so much more exhausting than I thought they'd be."

* * *

The train ride to Ebroze was long and tedious, in Azeria's opinion. She stifled a yawn as she stared out the window at the scenery rushing by, leaning her chin on her hand as she leaned back into the plush seat, casting a sideways glance at Rayborn, who had fallen asleep in the seat across from her. A faint smile graced her lips, but fell away moments later when her thoughts turned to their impending meeting with Rayborn's friends. She grimaced. She hoped to have a private conversation with Alzeid away from prying eyes and ears about her parentage, since she didn't—and _couldn't_—trust just anyone with such an important piece of information.

_But what happens if Branowen finds out I lied to her so blatantly?_ She worried, massaging her temples with two fingers to try and fend off the oncoming headache. _After all, Alzeid _is_ with that Baroqueheat, and there's no promising he won't tell him… oh… I guess I'll just have to witness their relationship firsthand to evaluate the risk of him telling… so frustrating!_

"Ugh… maybe I should just stop thinking," she mumbled to herself, pinching the bridge of her nose out of frustration as her headache just got worse. "Being a vegetable is sounding pretty appealing right now." She unzipped the duffel that was never far away and searched it for some Tylenol.

It seemed it was going to be one of those days.

* * *

"Huh… Ebroze is bigger than I thought it would be," Rayborn mused aloud.

Azeria shrugged in response. "I've been here before, so I'm not surprised."

Rayborn perked up a bit, figuring it to be as good a chance as any to learn some more about his newest friend. "Really? When?"

A faint smile graced her lips. "One of my foster families lived here, o nosy child," she teased. "After your family, all of my foster families were on this side of the ocean."

Rayborn nodded, but then frowned as he realized something. "Wait… you said you'd only been on a boat once before. So…" he trailed off, confused.

Azeria patted him on the head. "Don't sprain something with all that thinking." She gave him a sideways glance. "It's not something I'm at liberty to discuss in public…you never know when someone might be _eavesdropping on your conversation_," she raised her voice a bit at the last part, looking pointedly at a handsome young man with dark brown hair, fair skin, and a beauty spot by the outer corner of his left eye. When he realized she was looking at him, he offered her a wide smile before going back to his tea and dainties on a plate in front of him as he sat at a table outside a teahouse. She shook her head before taking Rayborn by the wrist and dragging him on down the familiar road. Seeing as they'd already put the horses in a stable where they would be boarded for an indefinite amount of time, they had decided earlier to walk around town before looking for a place to stay the night. Seeing as they'd lost more than a full day on the train there, Azeria wasn't sure if Alzeid the older would be around at the moment, or if he would've moved on, already… unlikely, she decided. Unless Rahzel had moved on, as well.

Also unlikely. People usually like familiar environments, after all.

All was silent for a long moment before Rayborn piped up.

"Umm, Azeria… how do you plan on finding out where Rahzel lives, exactly?"

"I was afraid you'd ask that," she said, taking out a sloppily-folded piece of paper from the pocket of her breeches, unfolding it and handing it over to Rayborn, who stared at the loopy cursive for a moment before realizing it was an address.

"Whoa!! Closet stalker!!"

"Shhh!!" she hissed, snatching the paper back and stuffing it back in her pocket without bothering to refold it.

Silence.

"…Don't you need that to find the house…?" Rayborn asked.

Azeria frowned, looking away with reddened cheeks. "…I already memorized the address," she muttered grudgingly under her breath.

"Pfffft! Hahahahahaha!"

"Sh-shut up, idiot!" she said, thoroughly embarrassed. She didn't like people thinking she was a stalker. "Just because I have information sources—which I used for _your_ benefit—doesn't make me a stalker! Would you rather wander aimlessly for days, or even _weeks_, to find your friends!?" she grumped.

Rayborn fell silent.

A long, uncomfortable silence hovered over them, along with a gloomy atmosphere.

"…Sorry," they both said at the same time. They looked at each other, blinked, and grinned. Rayborn's eyes widened, and he pinched Azeria's cheeks, stretching them out.

"Hey! So you _can_ smile!" He grinned. "You should smile more often. I was starting to worry you were like a female Alzeid, with all your expressionlessness!"

Azeria tensed and pried his hands away from her face, frowning. "Idiot, how could I be like someone I've never met?" she said, avoiding his gaze as she looked at the numbers of the houses; they seemed to be in the area Rahzel lived in now. Rayborn noticed her avoiding his gaze and wondered if it was something he'd said, but figured it was probably something she didn't want to discuss (one of those "not in public" things, he figured), so he just sighed and dropped the subject.

"Forty-five-oh-one… oh-three… ah! Here we are. Forty-five-oh-seven," she stated, pointing at the fair-sized, two-and-a-half-storey house. "This is where she lives."

Rayborn nodded, but dithered, not ascending the stairs leading to the front door. "Er, what time is it?" he asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious about being just outside Rahzel's door. "She might still be at school for the day…"

Azeria pulled out the slim pocket-watch tucked into the breast pocket on the left side of her shirt and flipped it open to glance at it. "Two-thirty-one," she noted. "I suppose school wouldn't be out just yet… but perhaps it would be wise to speak to her guardian, first," she mused aloud. "After all, having a stranger suddenly show up to visit their daughter would be a bit unnerving, I assume… perhaps explaining our current situation to them would be the proper thing to do." She nodded, grabbing Rayborn by the wrist and leading him up the steps, ringing the doorbell before he could protest. It was only a few moments later that the door opened with a slight creak to reveal a man who looked to be in his late-twenties, with long black hair and a vaguely annoyed expression on his face. A hint of recognition flashed across Azeria's eyes, but it was gone just as quickly as it had appeared.

"…Yes? May I help you?" he asked, noting that the two people on his doorstep were people he had never met before.

Azeria took the initiative to introduce them, seeing as it had been her idea, to begin with. "Good afternoon, sir. I assume you would be Miss Rahzel's guardian, then. My name is Azeria Rosemary Shawspue, and this is Rayborn Diorte… I believe there are some things we should discuss with you before your daughter gets home."

Serateed's eyes narrowed, and he studied the two of them silently for a moment before reluctantly stepping aside and allowing them into the foyer, where they politely removed their shoes.

"Follow me," he stated, leading them to the study. They obediently complied, Rayborn openly admiring the tastefully-decorated interior of the house, cream-colored walls and artfully-framed paintings decorating the long hallway. However, Azeria observed her surroundings with a more critical, calculating eye, especially noting the possible exits (not many, though there was an occasional window or doorway leading to another room—though the doors were all closed). When they reached the door to the study, Serateed stood to the side, holding the door open and watching them carefully as they moved to sit in two chairs facing the desk which he promptly moved to sit behind after closing the door to the study once more. He eyed them critically, especially the girl who, especially from the glimpse he'd had of her from behind, looked incredibly like a woman he wasn't sure if he believed was dead.

Rayborn, feeling slightly more comfortable now that they weren't out in the open, removed his hood and leaned back in the comfortable armchair, thankful for how comfortable it was. He looked over at Azeria as Serateed moved to sit down, and realized that she was perched on the edge of her chair, hands clenched into fists as they rested on top of her knees. Her jaw was clenched and she was staring straight forward. He wanted to ask her if she was alright, but glanced at Serateed, and thought maybe it would be better if he asked her when they were alone. Keeping his mouth shut, he leaned his head back again and let her do the talking.

"First things first, sir," she said, cutting right to the chase. "Has your daughter happened to mention someone during her travels who…died?" she said, hesitating before saying the last word.

Serateed stared at her intensely. "No. I have heard almost nothing about what all happened to her during her trip." His eyes narrowed. "Who was it?" he asked suspiciously, extremely wary now.

Azeria took a deep breath, exhaling through her nose as she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again to stare directly into Serateed's eyes. He suppressed the urge to wince at the sight of her red eyes…they were too familiar; it was too surreal for him to see _those_ eyes in _that_ face.

"Serateed, sir. I'm sure you've already thought that I look eerily familiar, correct?"

He nodded stiffly, wondering if his suspicions were about to be confirmed.

"I suspected as much," she said, face blank, though her eyes flickered with emotion—anger? "After all, I am the daughter of—"

_Crash!_

There were pounding footsteps before the door was flung open, and all three heads turned to see Warrant Officer Fay standing there, an urgent look on his face as he paid no mind to the two strangers in the room, instead staring at Serateed, brow furrowed as the recipient of his concerned look straightened, on edge.

"What is it?" he asked, gripping the armrests of his chair so hard that his knuckles turned white; a detail that did not escape Azeria's scrutinizing gaze.

"It's…it's Rahzel," he said nervously, obviously very upset. "She…she's unconscious, and she won't wake up."

Serateed shot up from his seat, quickly moving around the desk and going over to Fay.

"Take me to her."

Fay nodded and moved to take him to Rahzel, as he had gone ahead of Alzeid and Baroqueheat while they walked home with her, seeing as she didn't seem to be in immediate danger at the moment.

Serateed paused in the doorway, clutching the doorframe so tightly that it he clenched his hand a little tighter, it would no doubt crack. He threw a sidelong glare at Azeria over his shoulder.

"You…" he said, pausing to take a deep breath before he continued. "…Don't skip town until we've met again. We _will_ finish this talk later."

Azeria nodded, and Serateed turned and strode off, following Fay. Azeria's eyes lingered on his back, and she wondered if next time she spoke to him, she would have to speak to Baroqueheat, as well… she cringed slightly. She was not looking forward to explaining who she was to all of Serateed's siblings. Serateed, himself, she at least held some degree of trust towards for what he had gone through by a certain woman's hand. He understood _that woman_ much better than most did, and she felt her identity would be safe with him because of the extent of his knowledge. Heaving a sigh, she stood up from her chair and offered a hand to Rayborn, pulling him up as well.

Rayborn was silent for a moment as he studied her expression. "…So…what are we going to do now?" he said, brow furrowing in concern. "That guy…he said Rahzel was unconscious and wouldn't wake up. Do… do you think she's going to be okay? Should we check, too?"

Azeria stared at him, her expression becoming blank and unreadable at the mention of the other girl.

"…Not now," she said slowly after a pause. "If it's just that she's not waking up… then I doubt there is anything we could do, anyways. He didn't say anything about her having physical wounds," she said reasonably before reaching up and massaging her temples with two fingers, fighting an oncoming headache that the current situation had brought on. "…Let's just go, Rayborn. Besides. I'm not sure I want your friends finding out about you before I explain… _everything_ to them," she stated dryly, realizing even as she spoke that she would have to out _all_ of the info on her existence to them before they would even talk to her, likely. She sighed and clasped her hand around Rayborn's wrist, dragging him out of the room and, ultimately, out of the house. She only released him when they were a good ways away from the house.

Rayborn sighed. "Does this mean it'll be another two weeks or more until I get to see them all again?" he asked, a somewhat wistful expression on his face as he made sure his hood was securely pulled up to disguise his identity once more.

Azeria glanced over at him, gaze lingering on him for a moment before she went back to scanning the area in front of them, ever alert. "Actually… I plan on going to see them tomorrow," she said.

Rayborn perked up, and went to open his mouth, but Azeria interrupted before he could speak.

"I'm going alone, though… I want to explain everything in full detail. And in the case that they turn against me… I don't want you being there. I won't risk your safety." She chuckled softly. "Diorte would have my head, if I did."

Rayborn frowned. "Why would they turn against you?" he asked, as she turned and entered the hotel they'd rented a room in for the night, him following her. They passed through the deserted lobby and quickly ascended the stairs, Azeria pulling the room key out of her pocket and opening the first door on their right. The long silence was only broken after they had both entered the room and she had closed and locked the door behind them.

"Because… I am the daughter of Baroqueheat and Serateed's older sister… Natsume, and Alzeid's clone—Alzeid Second."

* * *

**A/N:** Yeah... you probably all totally expected that. xD I planted so many indirect references it's not even funny.

Sorry, my lovely reader-muffins, but my updates will be coming a bit slower after this. Not only do I have college and bursary applications to fill out and send in nowadays, but in my second semester, I also have more classes than I did this semester, and on top of that, I am writing a Kingdom Hearts fanfiction at the same time as this (yikes!). So, please excuse me, for I must now cut my updates down to once every month, rather than the twice a month I was doing before.

That being said, my next update will be due on March 15th. Updates will come in the middle of the month from now on. :)

If you like this story, add it to your watch list--or better yet, drop a review! It would be greatly appreciated if you did. Reviews for me are like adding a fire to marshmallows to toast them with. Tasty~ :D (I'm sorry, it's late and I'm tired. I'm not even sure if that comparison makes sense. xD)


	7. Indignant Ultimatum

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dazzle (a.k.a. Hatenkou Yuugi) or any of its characters; I do, however, own Azeria Rosemary Shawspue (my OC), and this fanfiction.

**Rebirth, Chapter Seven**

"_Indignant Ultimatum"_

---

Azeria hastily scribbled a note for the still-sleeping Rayborn, glancing over as she signed her name at the bottom to make sure she hadn't woken him up. She hoped she didn't wake him up, because she was not much of a morning person as it was, so she didn't want to accidentally snap at him in the case he fussed about not being able to go see his friends even though they were so close. Grabbing some of the tasty cheese bread they'd bought at the market after she'd explained her heritage to a semi-shocked Rayborn (though more about her parents' relations to his friends, rather than her parentage itself), she quietly slipped out and shut the door behind her before chowing down on her breakfast, feeling especially ravenous seeing as she'd hardly been able to pick at her food the night before. She tended to lose her appetite whenever she was upset about something.

Truth be told, that whole day had made her upset.

…Scratch that.

Their entire _trip_ had made her upset.

Azeria paused mid-chew as she strode out of the hotel and into the pre-dawn, gray morning, the bread seeming to turn to ash in her mouth as she bleakly remembered all that she had been upset about the day before. Because, if she was really honest with herself (which she usually tried not to be, but often failed in doing so), even just mentioning _that woman's_ name aloud was enough to set her off her food for almost a week. She forced herself to chew and swallow the last couple bites of her breakfast before heading to a nearby convenience store she'd noted the location of to purchase a drink to wash the food down with. She needed to kill some time before heading to the house to speak to Serateed, anyways; after all, showing up on their doorstep before the sun had even risen would be seen as very bad form, and she had been taught better than that.

However, she would be lying if she said she wasn't surprised to suddenly be pulled into an alley by an unfamiliar pair of hands, one hand over her mouth to keep her from screaming, and the other around her torso, locking her arms at her sides. She resisted the primary instinct to struggle, seeing as in most cases, it only served to piss off the kidnapper and make matters worse. Besides; she wanted to check and see if her suspicions had been proved correct.

And, as she was shoved against the brick wall of one of the buildings lining the alley, hidden from view of the road by a dumpster, she caught sight of who her attacker was; an unfortunately familiar face.

Suspicions confirmed.

Seeing as she was currently being pinned to a wall in a back alley by none other than Kiara, she supposed that Alzeid Jr. must have informed him of her existence, after all, despite the fact that he had seemed not to think of her as all-bad by the end of their meeting. She inwardly cursed. He probably sold her out for Rahzel's sake.

_Why is it that I always seem to get the short end of the stick?_ She griped inwardly, but maintained an apathetic outward appearance until Kiara gave her a cold, emotionless smile and removed his hand from her mouth, keeping his other hand clenched around her wrists as he'd pinned them against the wall above her head, rendering them useless.

"What do you want?" Azeria stated blandly, staring blankly at the smiling individual trapping her.

Kiara tutted, wagging a finger at her condescendingly. "Now, now, that's very rude. I would've thought your parents taught you better than that." His smile widened as he noticed her muscles tense slightly at the sly jab. "Of course, you know who I'm talking about, don't you? Not that your family seems to care about you much. Even your 'oldest brother' sold you out, after all."

Azeria finally broke from her placid expression, glaring at him viciously despite the fact that there was precious little she could do in her current situation. She hissed wordlessly, saying nothing. She had learned over the years to choose her words very carefully, and seeing as she was currently at Kiara's mercy, she doubted saying anything would prove very helpful at the moment.

"Rude little girl," Kiara said, cold smile never leaving his face. "I don't suppose you would be willing to take me to see your mother, hmm?" he said, staring into those same red eyes he hated so much.

Azeria stared defiantly back. Despite the gap in their abilities, she was not one to give in just because she was unsure if she would be able to win. She wasn't fond of the idea of doing something to set Kiara off, because she thought of him as somewhat of a ticking time-bomb that could blow up at the smallest of things, but she had to respond. And it wasn't going to be the answer he wanted to hear.

"You know what my answer is," she calmly replied, appearance unruffled once again. She resisted the urge to flinch as Kiara's expression tightened along with his death grip on her wrists.

"My, my," he said airily. "It would seem you gave me the wrong answer, little girl." He released her wrists suddenly, but before she could do anything, he had his hands wrapped around her throat, lifting her up and choking her. "Perhaps this will convince you to change your mind," he smiled easily, as though he wasn't threatening to kill her.

Azeria sputtered and choked, her air supply almost completely cut off. But still, she glared back at him defiantly, refusing to give in even as she grew light-headed and Kiara moved one hand to snap her wrist back at an awkward angle, the fiery pain that shot through her at that moment signaling it was broken. She thought she heard the tell-tale sound of someone teleporting nearby over the sound of her own heart pounding in her ears, but couldn't be sure.

All of a sudden, she was on the ground, Kiara's attention focused on someone across the alley from them. She blinked and coughed a few times, undamaged hand rubbing her sore throat, before she was able to focus on them as well.

"Azeria! I need you to…" they trailed off as they noticed the other person in the alley. "…Ah. Hello, Kiara… I don't suppose you'd be willing to forget you ever saw me here, would you?"

Kiara's face was turned away from Azeria, but she didn't need to see his expression to know that he was absolutely furious. But even as he charged, she made her decision.

Even as she hauled herself to her feet, she was teleporting in front of the other person, Kiara's ribbon whip descending in a flash. She barely had enough time to raise her arms in a block to protect her face from the attack before the weapon was upon her.

It was a sickening sight to behold. Azeria watched in an almost detached manner as the whip sliced clean through her left arm just a couple inches below the elbow, leaving a deep gash on her right arm beneath it and laying it open to the bone. As the whip arced down, it also sliced deeply into the right side of her stomach and her upper right leg. As the whip drew back and she dared look down, she could see the blood splashing out and the exposed muscles as her leg gave way, and she fell to the ground in a pool of her own blood, her severed arm lying mere inches away from her face. Still feeling dizzy from lack of air and coupled with the severe loss of blood she was suffering, she knew she was going to faint as black began to creep over her vision. And yet even as she wondered if Kiara would finish her off before she could regenerate, she didn't regret a thing.

_After all,_ she thought, _I would gladly give my life to protect my father._

_

* * *

  
_

"Azeria!"

The word tore itself from Second's throat as his daughter literally fell to the ground in pieces, blood staining the cobblestone alleyway. His thought process froze from the shock, and all he could think was, _Not again. Don't tell me it's happening again._

A sudden burst of anger washed over him, and he glared venomously at Kiara, who wore a look of vague disappointment and scorn as he gazed at the fallen girl lying between the two of them. Second's good judgment overruled his anger, though, and he quickly moved to grab Azeria so he could teleport them to safety, but as he reached out to her, a whip ensnared his hand, locking it in place.

"Ah-ah-ah," Kiara said, earning himself another nasty glare from Second. He smiled placidly in return. "Unless you want her dead, I suggest you take me with you… old fool."

Second's glare wavered, and after a moment, he looked down at Azeria's battered form, torn and limp like a ragdoll that had been played with too roughly, despite the fact that he could see a new left arm forming itself already from the stump left by Kiara's ribbon whip. Needless to say, it was hard for him, seeing his own flesh and blood in such rough shape, and with the threat of death looming over her head if he didn't offer his compliance…

"…Fine," he relented bitterly, continuing to look at Azeria as he spoke. "Go get my clone who's traveling with you and meet me back here. I'll take you… to see her."

Kiara smiled faintly in triumph, retracting his whip and casually leaving to fetch Alzeid Jr. He didn't bother asking questions now that he knew he was going to see Natsume once again.

_Finally,_ he thought as he left Second behind. _Finally, I can go see her again._

Second, however, remained stock-still for a few more moments before shifting Azeria so she was out of sight from the main street. He was unable to do anything about the blood at the moment, though it should seem just like a particularly dark area of shadow in the already-shady alleyway at first glance. He quickly placed a protection spell on her so that she wouldn't be moved or touched before he got back, and he cast one last glance at her over his shoulder before he left to retrieve the other clone. The missing portion of her arm was already halfway regenerated by that point.

_Not good enough._

Second placed a hand over his face as his face screwed up with agony and apprehension.

_What if, for all my efforts, I still can't achieve what I set out to do?_

Teleportation, Second had found, was not always the most convenient of things. Although it was very helpful for finding people, as all you had to do was focus on a memory of the person and you would teleport to them, there was also the fact that you never knew where that person would be—in the shower, in a crowded store, swimming in the ocean; etcetera, etcetera. Unfortunately, teleporting was the only way that he could possibly find Alzeid in time. He shook his head. Thinking of his younger clones using his own first name had always felt strange… but then again, he supposed having clones to begin with was stranger than that.

The teleportation always made him feel a bit queasy, though he'd grown more accustomed to it over the years. Unfortunately, though, using any of his powers nowadays left him in pain. He quickly teleported to where Alzeid was, fighting to focus on a memory of him rather than the pain that sparked and shot up from his extremities as soon as he activated his powers. He squeezed his eyes shut tight to the pain, only opening them when he felt his feet back on solid ground, his stomach doing a little flip-flop from the sickening motion of the magic.

He was surprised to find that he was in what appeared to be a girl's room. Since when did Alzeid have interest in anyone aside from himself, his brother, and Natsume? Though, of course, neither of the clones had been outside by that point, so it made sense that Alzeid would meet new people and make new connections after he discovered the outside world. A small smile touched Second's face. He was glad his younger clone had found people to take his mind off of the revenge he had most likely been planning when he had found Second "dead". Looking around the room, he spotted a girl lying in bed, covers drawn up around her chin, and Alzeid in a chair beside the bed, his head resting on his arms.

He might have found the scene endearing… until he realized who the girl in the bed was.

Inhaling sharply, his eyes snapped to Alzeid, who had reacted at his intake of breath. He seemed to have been reaching for his weapon until he realized he didn't have it, settling to look for the intruder instead. His eyes landed on Second in a moment.

It looked like he had seen a ghost… Second reasoned with himself that it was to be expected, since the boy had seen him "dead" before, but… it kind of hurt, for his abilities to be doubted so much by his own clone.

Alzeid's jaw went slack. "You… You're…"

"Alive; yes, I know," Second said in a bit of a rush. "Sorry, but I don't exactly have enough time to spare to let you be shocked a few moments longer. Come with me," he said, holding his hand out for Alzeid to grab. "There's someplace I need to take you… and the girl will be fine."

Alzeid looked back at Rahzel's sleeping face, slightly apprehensive about leaving, before sighing exasperatedly.

"Stupid chick," he muttered under his breath before taking his "father's" hand and allowing himself to be pulled up from his chair. _She'll be fine. She's just sleeping,_ he reassured himself as he left, giving her one last glance over his shoulder before Second teleported them both to the alleyway, the familiar nauseating feel of the magic making his stomach turn for a moment, but otherwise making no tangible reaction. The one thing that made him raise an eyebrow slightly when they arrived in the alley was the large pool of blood, visible in the gray light of the dawn now arriving. A small trail led from the blood to the young girl dressed in a fancy, but torn, lacy knee-length dress, propped up against the wall of one of the buildings lining the alleyway.

He couldn't help but notice the similarities in her features to his father's "killer", though… although, he supposed, he couldn't really call her Second's actual killer anymore, seeing how he was standing right next to him now, alive and healthy as ever.

Alzeid watched as Second knelt before the girl, disregarding the half-dried blood that got on the knees of his brown slacks, and dispelled the protection magic he'd placed on her before gathering her in his arms and standing back up again. For some reason, this simple action set Alzeid on edge.

"Who is she?" he demanded, eyes slightly narrowed as he tried to figure out if he would have known her from the time before his father "died", though he knew it was highly unlikely that he had.

"She…" Second trailed off, seeming to think about how he should word it as he glanced down at her face, his face relaxing into an expression of decided calm. "She is my daughter."

Alzeid was taken aback. Daughter? Definitely not a clone, or she would have white hair, like himself, rather than the black hair she had. He didn't see any white roots at her scalp, so highly unlikely that it was just dyed… besides, a clone would have to be male, right? And she definitely wasn't male (he quickly averted his eyes from her chest; he didn't want to be thought of as a pervert). So that would mean…

"…By blood," he stated rather than questioned. He looked blankly at his "father". "With who?" He didn't even need to ask; he already knew the answer to that question. It was the only thing that made sense.

"Don't ask questions you already know the answer to; it only makes you look stupid," Kiara said in an airy voice as he walked towards the trio, Alzeid Jr. close behind. He smiled coolly at Second. "Now, let's get on our way, shall we?"

Second's face was void of expression as he held Azeria out for Alzeid to hold so that he could teleport them, but Alzeid made no move to touch her, balking at the thought of holding someone his father seemed to hold more dear than himself. It brought a tiny spark of jealousy to him that his father had picked her up with such gentleness. He hadn't even seen his father's face in several years, and there his father was, with a blood daughter, someone whom he obviously had with a woman he cared about. No, he decided. He would not touch that girl.

Alzeid Jr. stepped between himself and Azeria, throwing a glare back at Alzeid over his shoulder as he took her from Second without a word. Second nodded and ruffled Alzeid Jr.'s hair before motioning for everyone to come closer so that he could teleport them. Alzeid grit his teeth. It was like nothing that he did could please his father now.

_Why?_ He thought, even as the familiar magic swept a brief wave of nausea rolling over him for the second time that day. _Why does it feel like I'm losing him, even though I've only just found him again?_

_

* * *

  
_

The room they arrived in was very plain, only holding a couch, a side table, and a television, with several lamps fixed to the walls and not a window in sight. There was a faint, earthy smell lingering in the room that suggested perhaps it was an underground structure. Second confirmed this when he first spoke.

"This place is underground. The only way in or out is to teleport, so don't be expecting to be able to come back anytime you want, Kiara," he said, looking at him through narrowed eyes behind his glasses as he took Azeria back from Alzeid Jr. and placed her carefully on the couch, seeing the only things that hadn't grown back yet were her fingers. His brow furrowed, however. _She should have been fully healed by now._

"…You two," he said, motioning for his clones with a jerk of his head. "Follow me." He paused a moment as they stepped forward to follow him with sidelong glares at each other, staring at Kiara with an unreadable expression. "I would tell you to stay here and not touch anything… but I doubt you would listen, anyways." He turned to lead the way out of the room. "She should be down the hallway to the left."

Kiara didn't bother acknowledging anyone's presence after that, making a bee-line for the hallway to the left and leaving the albino trio to head down the hallway to the right.

No one spoke as they strode down the hallway, only pausing for Second to fish a key out of his pocket when they reached the heavy steel door at the end of the hall. When they entered the room, the younger clones noted that it was a vast laboratory, with lab rats on one side of the room and several flasks and beakers sitting on the wide, long stainless steel table, more than a couple containing what appeared to be human blood.

Alzeid's gaze snapped back to Second.

"What are you _doing_ in here?" he asked.

Second was silent for a moment before he brought his hands up before him. He was wearing white gloves, but he took the edge of one between his teeth and pulled it off. Allowing the material to drop forgotten to the floor, he held his uncovered hand out for both of his clones to see, eliciting sharp inhales from both of them.

His fingertips were extremely discolored, the discoloration fading into normal pigmentation towards his wrists. He then removed the glove on his left hand to show that it was the same, but the discoloration crawled up further, the normal pigmentation starting about two inches up his arm from the wrist.

"Why… are your hands like that?" Alzeid asked quietly, though Alzeid Jr. was staring at them with a blank expression.

"It's from overusing your powers," Alzeid Jr. stated, looking Second in the eye. "Isn't it."

Second nodded.

"That's why I brought you both here," he said, moving behind the table to take something out of the storage fridge there, setting it on a clear spot on the end of the table and motioning the two over as he took some clean syringes out of a drawer beneath the table to fill them with the bluish-gray liquid in the beaker he'd brought out. "I haven't found anything that could reverse the effects of the decaying process caused by overuse of our powers yet," he said, glancing at their expressions and noticing a small hint of something akin to fear deep in their eyes. "I have, however, found something that can prevent any decaying from this point onwards, with regularly-administered doses. Hold your arm out on the table and make a fist," he said to Alzeid as he rolled the young man's sleeve up and knotted a rubber tie around his upper arm before injecting him with the syringe and swabbing the area as soon as he removed the needle. He handed Alzeid a bandage to put on it before moving to do the same to Alzeid Jr.

"How… did you find this, er, I suppose you would call it an 'antidote'?" Alzeid asked. "Wouldn't it be difficult since all our DNA is the same? There would be no real way to locate what genes would give us access to our powers, or that would cause the decaying, right?"

Second gave a small smile as he swabbed the spot where he'd inserted the syringe in Alzeid Jr.'s arm, handing him a bandage as well. "That's where Azeria comes into play."

"Who?"

"My daughter."

The words still stung a little. '_My daughter._' He must be a sore loser, to be so jealous over his father's affection for the girl.

"When I told her I needed to stop your decaying process before it began, she practically _ordered_ me to take samples of her blood." He chuckled at the memory before sighing. "That girl… all she wants is a family," he said, placing a hand over her face. "And I… I can't give her that. Because Natsume… just won't have it.

"That girl," he said, looking between his two clones, "she'll want to be near you two. Because she thinks of you two as her siblings." His gaze hardened. "And if either of you betrays the trust I believe she'll blindly put in you because of her way of thinking… I can promise you, I will not forgive you."

It was that moment when Alzeid actually began to despise Azeria's existence.

* * *

**A/N:** Phew! Almost didn't get this one finished in time... yesterday, I only had a little over 2,000 words on it and I was like, "Oh crap, panic attack! I'm only halfway done the chapter!" But I just couldn't write at ALL. It was like, the words wouldn't come out. But thankfully today was a good day writing-wise and I got dang near close to another 2,000 words on it. I wanted to make it about 5,000 words without the author's note, but I felt like this was a good place to end the chapter. Kiara's meeting with Natsume will be covered next chapter, along with what went down when she and Second "died".

Next update is due April 15th. Till then, ciao~!

(Also, I've noticed I've got several more hits and visitors than reviews. I would like to hear my readers' thoughts, and the only way to do that is by PM or review! So... review!! xD )


	8. Systematic Abnegation

**A/N:** I do realize that new chapters of Hatenkou Yuugi are finally being posted on mangafox (I don't know about any other scanlation-posting sites, since mangafox is the one I usually use), so I thought that now would be as good a time as any to clarify when, exactly, this story's plot starts going off-track from the manga's storyline. After chapter 77 (and before chapter 78, so between the two), that is where everyone is taken to Second's home. Thus, from this point on, things will not be strictly following the manga. Be prepared for some changes, people!

Sorry for the long author's note. On with the story!

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Dazzle (a.k.a. Hatenkou Yuugi) or any of its characters; I do, however, own Azeria Rosemary Shawspue (my OC), and this fanfiction.

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**Rebirth, Chapter Eight**

"_Systematic Abnegation"_

Kiara's mind was racing as he walked down the hallway to the left. One thing kept on repeating throughout his various thoughts, though: _Natsume is here._ He couldn't believe that he was finally going to meet with her again. Had these past years finally paid off like he'd hoped they would? She finally granted an audience with him because of all he had done to that girl? No matter, he thought. If that was what it would cost him, he would gladly pay the price over again, were he forced to make the choice, in order to meet with her like this.

The last door on the left was open just enough to let a sliver of light out from within. Kiara could feel the adrenaline pumping; the moment of truth had arrived. Finally. His silent footsteps halted before the door, and he smiled oddly for a moment before opening it and strolling in casually, one hand in his pants pocket as he placed his usual smile on his face. The person he had been wanting to see for ages was sitting in a chair at the far side of the room so that he could see her left profile. She had her ankles crossed as she sat, back elegantly straight, a book propped open in her lap as she read, disregarding the entrance of a trespasser into what appeared to be her personal library.

Kiara was silent for a long moment as he leaned back against the doorframe, watching Natsume as she casually read.

_Strange how reassuring it is to see that she exists with my own two eyes, even if she refuses to look at me._

Unable to hold his tongue any longer, he spoke.

"Natsume—"

"Why did you come here?" she interrupted, voice flat, still not looking up from the book as she flipped the page.

"You know why I've come," Kiara stated, his smile feeling strained, though he knew that its appearance never changed. "All I want is for things to go back to the way they were. Need I explain what you already know?"

"If I had wanted to stay a family, do you think I would've gone to the lab that night, even having foreseen what would happen?"

Those eyes that refused to look at him… They made Kiara want to grab her face and force her to look him in the eyes while she spoke. However, he remained where he was. He began to fiddle with his ribbon tie; the only outer sign he ever gave that he was holding back his emotions.

"Then what made you want to stop?"

_Tmp._

Kiara eyed the book.

_Finally closed the damn thing. Now look at me. Look at me, already. I'm right here. Why won't you look at me?_

"You couldn't have possibly expected me to look out for you forever, kid. If I hadn't left, none of you would have learned to be independent. Does it look like I want to be saddled with the fates of everyone else? Like I want to be the one who has to do every little thing for a bunch of snot-nosed brats? Because that's what you all acted like. Pampered little kids who I had to wait on, hand and foot. I was never your mother. Who asked you to make me one?"

Those cold words. They pierced through Kiara, wiping off the ever-present smile from his face for once and replacing it with a look of frozen shock. He felt pale and weak, as though her words had drained every last bit of energy from him.

"Ah… So I see," he said, wondering in a detached manner how in the world he managed to make his voice sound as light and airy as it usually did. How he managed to sound so unbearably _normal_. "I apologize for being a nuisance. I'll take my leave, then."

He tread lightly down the hall, though his footsteps sounded louder than normal, his shoes feeling almost as though they were made of lead. His smile did not come back.

Natsume watched out of the corner of her eye as he left, not saying a word to stop him. It was true; she had never wanted to be a "responsible older sister" type, but… she smiled wanly. Her "siblings" had grown on her, she supposed.

_But in the end, I'm unbearably selfish. I would rather be here, with my research and the man I love and looking out for that girl, than be with my "family". And the final thing that shoved me here was those damn people from Prometheus… Using my knowledge for their own gains… Is it too selfish to want to keep all the glory for myself? Really, Natsume… how selfish it is, indeed…_

She stared expressionlessly at the empty fireplace for a moment before casually opening her book to the page she had been on before. Her realization was nothing new to her, after all.

* * *

Azeria slowly drifted towards consciousness, feeling oddly out of place. It took a moment for her to realize that the feeling of her surroundings was different than usual… namely, that she was sleeping on a couch with her neck at an uncomfortable angle on the armrest, and her arm—which felt unbearably sore from the elbow down, for some reason—hanging over the side, fingers brushing what felt like a cold stone floor. Resisting the urge to groan at the unpleasant feeling of pain, she forced her eyes open and carefully sat up, moving her arm so that she was cradling it in her lap. After a moment, all that had happened yesterday came flooding back to her in a rush, and she gave a mental sigh before gently beginning to massage the regenerated limb in order to help the circulation. By the time she had worked her way from elbow to wrist, her ears caught the sound of approaching footsteps. Calmly, she continued massaging, working her way back down towards the elbow. Those footsteps were vaguely familiar, and she knew that if they belonged to the person she thought they might belong to, they would make themselves known in a very… _obvious_ manner, if they chose to at all.

As obvious as both hands wrapped around her throat, it seemed.

Kiara leaned in uncomfortably close to her face with a look of unadulterated fury, squeezing her neck painfully and causing her to choke and gasp for air. "Did you poison her against me?" he hissed. "Are you the one that tainted her mind? That made her not want to come back to me? To _us?_ Are you!"

Azeria coughed as he relaxed his hands just enough to allow her to speak. "You…you're," she coughed again, "not the only one who doesn't have that woman's favor." She watched Kiara's face slowly turn blank before saying, "That woman never accepted me from the start. The only loves in her life are her work, herself, and my father…in exactly that order," she said, gritting her teeth and squeezing her eyes shut in preparation for an injury she had no doubt she would receive for bad-mouthing the person Kiara idolized. When nothing came, she opened her eyes only to be shocked when Kiara removed his hands from her throat and collapsed onto the couch beside her, looking altogether defeated. There was a long silence, and Azeria made an effort to relax, though she did not find it easy in the presence of someone so violently unpredictable.

"I suppose we have something in common, then," he said, tugging on his ribbon tie for a moment before placing a hand over his eyes. "…Ugh! So uncool," he complained.

Azeria hesitated for a moment before placing her hand on top of his head in a silent attempt to reassure him, thinking that perhaps he was trying not to cry. After all, he had seemed to be very attached to her mother, and she knew all too well the feeling of being rejected by someone whom you just wanted to love you. Seeing as she had lived with that exact feeling for her entire life, and all.

Kiara slid his hand down just enough to be able to look at her, and she inwardly flinched when their gazes met; however, she did not look away. That would be a show of cowardice, in her opinion. After a moment, Kiara removed his hand from his face completely, revealing his smirk as he reached his hand towards her face. Azeria could feel the panic rising up as she remembered his hands around her throat, how he had sliced her arm off with his ribbon whip…and—

_Flick._

"You are _much_ too serious, little girl. I really think you ought to lighten up a bit," he said with a somewhat mocking smile.

Azeria flushed in anger, drawing her hand back to herself and scooting as far away from him as she could on the couch, taking the only throw cushion on the couch and holding it in front of her protectively, as though it would shield her from him. She glared at him wordlessly as he finally smiled his usual smile back at her, only stopping when she heard footsteps approaching once again. As there were three sets this time, she quickly drew the conclusion that her father must have brought both his clones back, and she hastily threw the cushion in Kiara's general direction and stood up, greeting the three with a bow when they entered the room. However, Alzeid Jr.'s attention was not on her, she noticed as she stood straight up again (only to be thrown off balance by a pillow to the back of her head, courtesy of Kiara). Rather, he was already headed with a quick stride towards Natsume's room. She averted her eyes from his retreating form. She knew what the outcome would be of his visit already. Looking to Second for instructions, as he seemed to be waiting for her attention to be on him, she noticed what Second had in his hands.

"It's complete, then?" she asked.

"Yes," Second confirmed. "According to the tests I've done, this should do it. Roll up your right sleeve, please."

Azeria nodded. Usually Second would take blood samples from her left arm, but she supposed since it was an injection, it would work better in the arm whose circulation was working properly still. Rolling up her sleeve, she held her arm out for Second to knot the rubber tie around her upper arm and inject the contents of the syringe into her vein. After he removed both objects from her arm, she took the band-aid he offered her and put it on, flexing her now-sore arm a couple of times to make sure that the blood was pumping well. Glancing at Alzeid for the first time since the trio had come back from wherever they had been (though she assumed it had been the laboratory, since Second had come in with the vaccine of sorts he had been creating), she realized something important.

"Ah!" she exclaimed. "I'm sorry, that was quite rude of me for not introducing myself. My name is Azeria Rosemary Shawspue, and it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," she said, extending her hand to Alzeid for a handshake.

"Alzeid," he replied, though he made no move to take the offered hand.

After a moment, she realized that he was purposely ignoring her offer, noticing the spark of animosity that burned behind his red eyes. Unsure what she had done to make him act like so, she simply attributed it to a mistrust of strangers (or at least, she hoped that was all it was) and awkwardly lowered her hand back to her side. She caught Second giving Alzeid a look of disapproval, but pretended not to see it since it had not been aimed at her. Pointedly looking away from him, she noticed with a bit of a start that Alzeid Jr. had returned, and was surprised that his footsteps were so quiet that she hadn't heard him coming. She grimaced a bit at the blank look of resignation on his face. Despite being older than her, she couldn't help but think such a look as that didn't belong on a face as young as his. Her brows drew downward in concern, but she said nothing as Alzeid Jr. entered the room and their eyes locked. The smaller boy seemed to try to smile, but failed, before walking over to her and hugging her. She was taken aback when she heard him sniff quietly, feeling her dress become damp where his face was pressed into her side.

Carefully, tentatively, Azeria wrapped her arms around him to return the embrace. She had never hugged someone before… sure, she had been hugged a few times before, namely by Rayborn's mother before she passed, but she had never been able to bring herself to return it. She wasn't sure if it was something she would ever be able to do with someone other than a member of her family. Some things she just thought were too precious to be given freely to just any person. However, Alzeid Jr. was her family. And this hug meant that he had accepted her as such. He _accepted_ her. Azeria's grip tightened around the boy, and she bent her head as tears gathered in her eyes. She blinked rapidly, but they just wouldn't go away. She looked away, abashed, when Alzeid Jr. looked up at her.

"Younger sister… are you crying?" he asked, sounding surprised.

Azeria flushed in her embarrassment, and moved to wipe her tears with her sleeve when a hand stopped her. Her eyes widened when she found Kiara holding out a handkerchief. Surprised—and somewhat touched—by the gesture from the confusing young man, she accepted it and dabbed gently at the tears with it.

"…Sissy."

She sputtered. "I beg your pardon!" She growled, crumpling the handkerchief and throwing it at him, eliciting nothing but a smirk.

_How did I find that stupid boy endearing for even a moment? I must be losing what little sanity I have left…_

Second cleared his throat, gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

"Azeria, if you will; please teleport everyone back to… a different place than we came from. I think that would be much too public by now," he said. "A private place nearby, if you would."

Azeria nodded. "Yes, father." She did not miss the heated glare that Alzeid sent her after she spoke.

_Does the reason he hate me have to do with my father? Is it because he is a clone, and I am not? Maybe it's because I knew he was alive all these years and Alzeid never knew…_

Quickly grabbing Alzeid Jr.'s hand (the only person she felt comfortable holding hands with, since Second was not returning with them), she motioned for the other two to join them, and was mildly irked when Kiara was the one who grabbed her other hand, Alzeid seeming highly uncomfortable as the other two grabbed onto his wrists. Neither Kiara nor Alzeid Jr. seemed particularly friendly towards him, and Azeria could almost feel the animosity that passed between them. She quickly focused on teleporting them to the hallway she remembered from Serateed's house. After all, she felt as though barging in on the office where she had met him would bring his utmost wrath upon her. He didn't seem to like her very much as it was, to begin with, and she certainly did not want to do anything to make him like her any less. She blanked her thoughts of everything but the hands holding hers and the layout of the hallway, feeling the spark of magic within her ignite into something that enveloped her entire being, and then spread outward to encompass her 'passengers'. The feeling was much worse than usual; the nausea almost overwhelming. There was something… a burning sensation in her arm… it was spreading. She blocked it out, but it was still there when she completed the teleport, and the carpeted floor was beneath their feet. A sense of vertigo overcame her, black spots dancing across her sight, and she suddenly wasn't sure which way was up. She felt someone catch her as the burning in her arm grew more and more intense. She clenched her fist to draw her mind away from the pain, and felt something warm in her palm. The technique worked, though. She was suddenly aware of the pain in her palm rather than the burning in her arm, which seemed to be fading. Blinking a few times to clear her vision, she looked to find that Alzeid Jr. had steadied her. It was a bit confusing that someone smaller than her was strong enough to support her weight, but stranger things had happened. She knew he wasn't the little boy he appeared to be, anyways.

_Still doesn't keep me from realizing what strange relatives I have…_

"What happened? Usually you don't feel dizzy after teleporting, just nauseous," Alzeid Jr. gave her a serious look.

"I don't know," she said. "It might be that I'm still recovering from having my _arm sliced off_," she said sarcastically, glaring at Kiara. As she did, she realized Alzeid was already leaving, having realized, she guessed, where it was they had ended up. "Nice meeting you, too," she grumbled under her breath as soon as she was sure he was out of earshot.

"He's always a mean grouch," Alzeid Jr. whispered conspiratorially to her before helping her stand straight once again. "Are you alright now?"

She nodded. "I think I'll be fine on my own now. I don't know where the dizziness came from, but it's all gone." _And so is the burning in my arm…not sure where that came from, either._

Kiara smiled. "Well, then. Seeing as I don't think I'll be welcome in this household, I believe I'll be on my way. Coming, Alzeid Jr.?"

Alzeid Jr. hesitated for a moment, wanting to go to check on Rahzel before he left, but not sure if he should. It wouldn't be easy seeing her in the condition she was in, after all. After a moment, he nodded and grabbed Kiara's wrist, teleporting the both of them out so that they wouldn't have to risk being seen leaving by the door. He gave a quick wave and a smile to Azeria before the magic swept them away to their new location.

Azeria felt an overwhelming sense of loneliness as the two departed. She had finally connected with one of her family members; why couldn't she just stay with him longer? But… she knew she should be getting back to Rayborn, or he would end up worrying. In fact, he probably already was. After all, she did leave him with just a note, and she had no way of telling how much time had passed since she had left their hotel room. She supposed that before she went back, she should let Serateed know that she had been there first, though… or not. Maybe that would just make him dislike her more, for randomly teleporting inside of his house (without permission, no less). Shaking her head, she headed for the front door. If she ran into him on the way out, then, well, that was that. She just hoped not—

"Ugh, not you again. I already have so many people in my house, I don't need to see another face I don't like," Serateed groaned in complaint, just coming into the hallway from the kitchen with a tray of drinks for the guests. "Well, you might as well sit down with the rest of the people I don't particularly care for. They're in the living room… follow me, I suppose." He sighed.

Azeria followed wordlessly, hoping her silence would somehow make up for her unwanted presence. When they entered the living room, she scanned the strangers in the room, taking in all the unfamiliar faces that stared at her with varying emotions (although she could've sworn she had seen that handsome boy with the mole before), before her eyes landed on—

"Rayborn?" she asked, eyebrows raising slightly in surprise. "I thought I left you a note explaining to stay at the hotel…"

"As if I'm going to just _sit_ there all day. Besides, I was already awake when you left. I'm not as deep a sleeper as you seem to think I am," he said, getting more miffed as he went. "You could have just woke me up! Do you have any idea how worried I was when you weren't even here when you said you'd be!"

"Shhh! Alright, alright, already!" Azeria said, face beet red, having been thoroughly embarrassed in front of complete strangers. She collapsed on the couch beside him and hid her face in her knees. "At least I had the courtesy to leave a note, though. And… the reason I wasn't here when I said I would be is because I ended up taking a little…er…_detour_," she said, eyes flicking to the other people in the room and noticing that handsome-mole-boy was blatantly listening in on their conversation. He smiled, and she realized with a twitch that he was the person who had been listening in on hers and Rayborn's conversation the day before when they were walking through town. _Ugh. So nosy!_ "…I'll tell you about it later." She said, resisting the urge to make a face at handsome-mole-boy when he began to pout.

"_Aiyaaaaaaa!_"

The shrill scream that pierced the air had everyone on their feet in an instant, almost everyone headed for the stairs by the time it died off. Rayborn went to follow, but was held back by a hand on his arm. He gave Azeria a desperate look.

"That was Rahzel, I just know it! I have to make sure she's okay, so let me go!"

Azeria's face went blank for a moment before she frowned slightly. "Rayborn. Think about it for a moment. Rahzel just woke up from a coma. A _coma_. How do you think she'll react if her supposedly dead friend shows up in front of her? It might not be the touching reunion you want it to be. She might think she's still asleep, and that you've come back to blame her for your death, or something. There are a lot of possibilities of how she'd react, and not all of them are good. I think you should wait to meet with her until a time when Rahzel is healthy and better able to handle the news that you're alive. Don't you think?" She asked, gaze burning into his with unquestionable seriousness.

Rayborn hesitated, clearly torn, before caving. "Alright, alright. I can't argue with your logic," he grudgingly admitted. "Let's go get some food and head back to the hotel, then. I'm starving."

Azeria nodded with a small smile and led the way out. But inside, she could feel her stomach turn at her own words.

_But in the end, I'm unbearably selfish. It's not for her sake that I don't want him to see her, nor is it even for his. It's only for me. It's always for me. My wants, my needs, my life. Am I really no better than my mother?_

But, as she always tried to do, she quickly shoved those thoughts aside, and carried on with her day.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, technically, this IS still being uploaded on August 1st... if you live in the Pacific timezone... which I do not... -sob- I've failed you all! D'x

(Not that I know who 'you all' are... seeing as no one is reviewing. -sadface- Drop me a line, will ya!)


	9. A note

**A/N:** Just so any who read this know (not that there seem to be a whole lot, and considerably less than are reading it review, but I still thought I should let you all know), I've switched the update schedule for this story with my update schedule for my Kingdom Hearts story since I don't have a chapter ready for this month. My deepest apologies; as I'm in college I have considerably less time than before to write, and I had a lot more muse for my KH story than for this one, so I wrote on that one in the time that I probably should have been writing this one. v.v;; Sorry. Next month for sure, though, I will have an update.

Again, my apologies. This note will be replaced with the next chapter November 1st.

-Talye Kendrin


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